Post-election, let's come together

Today, we know who won or lost in Tuesday’s General Election. We know the impact of our votes. The races for mayor, city council, school board trustees and fire districts have been decided.  

The question of, “Who will win?” has been answered. 

The next question is, “Where do we go from here?”

There are a few choices. 

If your candidate won, you could enjoy the moment. Things went your way. You could gloat, say your opponents were wrong, but it’s not recommended. 

If your candidate lost, you could be angry, claim the voters are dumb and dig in for battle, creating even more division. 

Or, together, we can take a good look at the outcome of Election Day, try to understand why, and even learn what we could be doing differently. 

For the most part, this was a respectful election, a few digs early on, but no real mug-slinging until the final few days when cellphones were being blown up with text messages that were part of last-minute attacks. 

In one of the more telling races, that of Coeur d’Alene mayor, you didn’t hear Councilman Dan Gookin go after Mayor Woody McEvers, and you didn’t hear McEvers going after Gookin. Both kept it clean and above board, having developed mutual respect for each other in their time on the City Council.  

Here is what we hope to see for post-election. 

That the political divide that has been cultivated by some in recent years, even pushed and prodded and stirred up again and again, fades away.  

It has been said, but we’ll say it again: We can be on the opposite sides of issues and still have respectful debate. It doesn’t have to fall to name calling and baiting and insistence one side is right and one side is wrong as has sadly been the case for too long. 

We challenge those who won, and those who didn’t, to find that common ground and work together where you can for the betterment of the community. 

And for those areas where  there is no common ground, which there are, go ahead and fight for what you believe in, but do so with respect and common courtesy. 

Doing so will be a step for the unity in our homes we all desire.