It is never easy to lose. Some losses are more traumatic than others and in the case of this most recent general election some people are grieving in a manner that is consistent with the death of a close family member. It is with that fact in mind that I ask that all of my friends on either side of the political aisle remember that it is never okay to harass or belittle a person who is in a state of grief. You would not tell a person whose brother just died to "Suck it up." Nobody would condone people making fun of a person who just lost a family pet or a close friend. But that is exactly what is transpiring all over this nation of ours. There is nothing good that can become of this callous behavior. It needs to stop.
There are those who want to be congratulated upon their successes. They fought hard and they won. It is understandable and it reasonable for those who have campaigned and prevailed to want acknowledgement for their efforts. To those people I say with no reservation, "Congratulations." The people have spoken and you deserve your chance to fulfill your campaign promises of clear and transparent leadership. To those who lost, I wish to thank you for your participation in democracy. It was designed and always meant to be a system where opposition is not only expected but necessary and you have brought that balance to the table.
We reside in rural America. This election was handed to the Trump Campaign by our demographic. While pollsters and media types were busily monitoring the temperature of urban America and completely ignoring the significant number of citizens living in places like Elbert County, Mr. Trump courted us. Rural America, a group who is often marginalized or completely ignored, stepped into the ring and delivered the telling blow and almost nobody saw it coming on the left.
Elbert County voted in unprecedented numbers. I worked to help officiate this campaign as I have for so many elections in the past. This new system of voting in Colorado helped to bring this election home for the Republicans. It is almost impossible to corrupt the vote count despite campaign rhetoric to the opposite. It allows for reactivation of those who have become inactive at the polls. It also provides for immediate registration for new voters just before they cast their ballots. Elbert County sent out over 17,000 ballots to eligible voters this election cycle, yet far in excess of 18,000 are now eligible to vote after election day. That speaks volumes about the power of being able to motivate people to join the system and not suppress the participation. Many people do not trust government to fairly adjudicate elections, but here in Colorado they have just proven that the system works.
I wish all of our local politician the very best in their upcoming terms of service. I hope that they do not fall into the trap of believing that there is such a thing as a political mandate. While the results were absolutely conclusive in the local election, the lines between Republican and Democratic viewpoints blurred here in the county over high density development, water and the use of public funds. Voters, many of whom were angry, voted a straight ticket. That skews the impact of local issues and it will serve our newly elected commissioners well to remember that water is lifeblood and all of our local issues of any import whatsoever ultimately return to this fact. If any commissioner is foolish enough to not heed this warning and moves capriciously to sell water from this county, the backlash will be from citizens across the political spectrum and not just from the Democrats. Water is not just for donkeys, it is important to elephants as well.
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