Joe Biden IS the president-elect. Joe Biden WILL be take the oath of office and occupy the White House. If you voted for Biden or against Donald Trump, you’re probably feeling good. If you’re one of the 71 million or so that voted FOR President Trump, you’re going to have to eventually accept that fact the election didn’t go your way.
Psychologists tell us there are five stages of loss:
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
I think a lot of Trump supporters were stunned when it appeared Joe Biden could win on Tuesday night (denial). As the votes began to be counted, egged on by President Trump’s patently false claims about the election being “stolen,” backers of the President grew angry (anger).
The next page in the GOP playbook was to demand recounts and file lawsuits that are, as it stands now, without merit, hoping for something that would change the results of the election (bargaining).
Soon those avenues will be closed, and the sadness will creep in (depression). But keep in mind the professionals tell us the various stages of loss can overlap. How could President Trump have lost? "We wuz robbed (denial). Joe Biden may have won but he certainly isn’t MY President (anger)."
If you voted for President Trump, be angry. Be depressed. But ultimately you’ll have to accept the fact (presuming you’re rational) that it was a close election; and your candidate lost BOTH the electoral and popular vote. Were there irregularities? Hell yeah. On both sides. But I doubt any election ever held in this country has ever been completely pristine.
I’m no psychologist, but I would suggest the following. If you’re suffering because your candidate lost, take a break. Stay off of social media for a bit. Stop watching the news. Do something that makes you happy.
Hopefully that will lead you to accepting the fact that Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States. And acceptance won’t make you a disloyal conservative or a traitor. It will probably relieve a lot of stress and make you feel better. Remember, misery loves company. Do you really want to spend your time in the company of the chronically unhappy and complaining?
And really what other choice do you have? Are you going to sulk for 4 years? Will you search for and pass along every conspiracy theory you can find? It seems to me it would be far more patriotic to try to build something up than tear it down. What is eventually constructed may not be exactly what you wanted, but there will be some things in it for you. And some things that represent the other half of the country that doesn’t think as you do. That, to me, is the way its supposed to work.
What do you think?
