May the next President have success with ideas that are in America's best interest

Whatever happens in the Tuesday, Nov. 6 elections, one thing is certain is that there will be winners and those who fell short of winning. Once the winners have been officially determined, it will be up to the winners in particular to display some adult behavior and reach out to those who fell short of victory or who supported those who fell short of victory and work offer a hand of congratulations for putting up the "good fight" and promise and deliver on that promise to work with all sides in making things better for their town, their district, their city, their county, their state and their nation.

In the national election for President, it appears the 2012 voters will be the best informed than any voters in American history. It will be good for all sides in this election to realize that. The voters have had the opportunity to get information from the most sources than any voters in history and in the end the voters will have put that information to good use in making their decision. Some will be delighted with the results and others will be disappointed or even dishartened. We all need to realize that America will survive the results of this election, some of us say that task will be easier if our slate of candidates, especially the man at the top of our slate of candidates, wins, but we need to go on, no matter who wins, and keep up the "good fight" for our ideas and our ideals.

I strongly suggest all of us take a few days, weeks or whatever, to cool off after this most headed of elections before jumping into the next election with both feet. Let some pieces fall where they may.

The winners, on all levels, need to keep in mind that their victories weren't unanimous and there are still plenty of people who don't think they were the best person for the job for which they were elected. They need to tred softly, yet firmly after their election, keeping in mind that for them to be as successful as they would like to be in their elected positions, they need the support of more people than just the ones who voted for them.

For those who fell short, they need to keep in mind that their defeats also were not unanimous and they still have plenty of folks out there who believe in them and their ideas and for which they stand. They must not simply go away, with their tails between their legs, and let the winners completely run the show. They believed in themselves, their ideas and their goals, and they need to keep pressing on behalf of those goals.

Congratulations to all who had the guts to run for public office. It isn't easy and it isn't any fun to fall short of winning. It can be a tough dose of reality to have so many voters reject you as a candidate, but nobody forced you to run so you need to lick your wounds and keep on believing in your ideas.

There will be future elections and the battle of ideas and ideology will be a never ending one.

Please, as best you all can, put your bitterness aside. Things were said and done in the name of politics that should embarrass us all, especially the candidates on whose behalf these embarrassing things were said and done. It is easy to remain bitter over what was said about you during the fever of the campaign.

As a former newspaper reporter and newspaper editor (and two-time failed candidate for the San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees) I know full well the pain and frustration of personal comments made against me, most often by folks who do not know me, but think they know things about me that just aren't true. I have not always followed my sage advice I offer above, and those times have not served me well.

However, I have kept trying and continue to "expose" myself through my words, because I enjoy writing so very much and still think I have something to offer those who choose to read what I write. I get so very much out of writing that I will never quit. I will also never quit enjoying the adventure of politics.

This was one of the toughest Presidential campaigns in American history and many will say one of the most nasty. History will prove that true or not, but no matter what, a winner will be picked by American voters and a President will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2013.

May that President be successful in the ways that will make America better and may that President not be successful in ways that will not serve America's best interest.