I do not like to be wrong. Today, under these circumstances, is an exception. I did not think it would happen. I do not think any of us did. I was certain that I would wake up this morning in a country ready to go under the command of HRC. 

I was wrong, and I am glad. 

Today is a good day to be a conservative, it is a good day to be a Republican, and it is a good day to be an American. A Trump presidency is the most purely American event to take place in a long time.  We have a long history of shooting the establishment, or the forces that are oppressing us, the bird and taking our country into our own hands. On Nov. 8, 2016, the American citizens did just that.  

We have burned the forest of the political establishment and left room for the growth of new populist, anti-status-quo political movement in politics. Donald Trump is the kidney transplant surgery that the polluted, dysfunctional body of American politics desperately needed. Politics in America will never be the same, and we have one man to thank: President-Elect Donald J. Trump. 

He single handedly fought, scratched, dug and clawed his way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Whether you like him or not, you have to respect what he did. He beat the Democrats, he beat the Clinton machine, he beat 16 other republican candidates, he beat the establishment of the Republican Party, he beat the media and he beat himself. No matter what he said or did, he could not be stopped. The hot mic tape leak boasting about non-consensual grabbing, a tape that would have killed any other candidate, did not stop Donald Trump. 

The entirety of the mainstream media called him, among other things: sexist, racist, xenophobic and homophobic, but it did not stop him. He is a symbol of the American people’s ability to see through even the most offensive speech in the hope of real, determined change.

On Nov. 8, America put it’s big boy and girl pants on and made a choice. The people chose to ignore the words of their candidate in the hope that his policies would finally address the disillusioned Midwest and the economically devastated manufacturing sector. To these people, their livelihood and the potential to have it back meant more than the promises of the left or the sometimes hateful speech of the right. 

I chose the same. I did so because I care about the sovereignty of the second amendment, religious liberty, free speech, border security, conservatism on the high court and most importantly the sanctity of life and the rights of the unborn. 

The election of Donald Trump gives me some hope for America, it makes me realize that not only do we see through the guise of liberal political promises, but that we care about the percentage of the country that both establishment parties have ignored. Blue collar Americans shouldn’t be a dying breed, and Democrats only have themselves to blame for letting them fall by the wayside. These are the people around our campus; former mill towns economically destroyed by outsourcing and left behind during the economic recovery.

This election shows me that we still have some “America” left in us, we can still make a crucial decision when it comes down to it, we still got some toughness and some fight left in us and it isn’t going anywhere.

Moving forward, Trump must be careful. He can choose the path of revenge and start a civil war within the GOP or move forward with “grace,” as Hugh Hewitt would say.  I believe he will choose grace. He must choose a cabinet that will mend ties with Paul Ryan, the rest of the establishment, the Never-Trumpers and independents. He must reunite and appease these elites because his success depends on it. My message to Trump would be to take the high ground; choose not revenge against those who did not support you, instead choose the high road, because these people will be crucial in moving this country forward. Trump needs friends right now.

Call up Ted Cruz, make amends, there is your first nominee to the Supreme Court. The former Solicitor General of Texas, a man with the honor of tendering nine arguments at the bar of the high court. He knows the constitution forwards and backwards and is a proven conservative. 

Up until today I was under the impression that the Republican Party had some soul searching to do, that it needed to rethink it’s policies and become more inviting to others, I thought it was imploding and bound to disband. Perhaps I was wrong. If Trump proves to make amends with the establishment, as I feel he will, he will have re-created the new Republican Party, in a rather smooth fashion. 

Now, maybe it is time for Democrats to do some soul searching, find some one who can steer their party back to the middle, out of far left field. We have learned from this election that far left ideas are not palatable to the American voter, even when the alternative is, for some, a tough pill to swallow. Democrats need to heed the message of this election.

It is a great day to be an American.