Time to heal
President George W. Bush will start his second term with a stronger majority in Congress but an America that is as deeply divided as it was following the 2000 Florida debacle. If his patriotism wins out over his partisanship, the president will recognize that he must of all things heal the hatred. This isn’t a task that he must necessarily accomplish in order to advance his own agenda inside the Beltway as the math adds up to enough votes, and the Senate Republicans have a good solid majority that was not enjoyed at the start of Bush’s first term. But for Americans to heal the chasm that developed during this most bitter of elections, the president must demonstrate the type of leadership that unifies rather than divides. We know that he is capable of doing this, as he reached across the aisle at the start of his first term, even working with the most liberal of senators, Ted Kennedy to advance No Child Left Behind.
And never in this country’s history was a more unified front shown than in the days and weeks following Sept. 11. Bush’s potential shined brilliantly then.
But in the months and years to follow, he lost the course, becoming combative and downright mean with those who might challenge him to take off the blinders when looking and weighing issues. Today this country is deeply divided between Bush supporters and those who believe he squandered a surplus, led this country into uncontrolled spending with record deficits and an unjustified war with Iraq that has no clear end in sight.
In his victory speech, Bush briefly told the people who voted for Kerry that he would work hard to deserve their trust. But that was the only acknowledgement that he paid to the deeply divided nation. One of Bush’s shortcomings has been to ignore or shortchange the importance of major problems. We trust that after the ebullience of victory wanes, he will recognize the healing that must begin.
Kerry during a gracious concession speech said that in his phone conversation with Bush, “we talked about the danger of division in our country and the desperate need for unity.” He pledged to work to heal the anger and toward a common cause.
More unites than divides this country. Despite party labels or blue or red states, we all want the same things of peace and security, a strong economy, good schools and health care. We differ in how to attain those goals, but that doesn’t mean the dialogue should be stifled or be couched in rancorous language. The best leaders, and we sincerely hope that Bush rises to that level, reach out to the opposition and make friends from enemies.