As we seek to adapt to this unexpected fact, questions and blame and credit taking abound. Pollsters are pouring over exit polls and post-election polls and pre-election polls to see what went wrong or right depending on how or where you stand on the candidates.
I want to take a different tact.
I am writing to say that candidates are not the place to look for vision. The community must articulate its own vision and then evaluate candidates on how much their plans fit the vision the community has for its own prosperity.
When a community or organization or group establishes its vision for itself it has a framework to evaluate a candidate. Whether or not someone is boring or exciting is not a vision or prosperity plan. Whether someone hires your friend or comes to your church or block club is not a vision or prosperity plan. Our political decisions must be based upon a clear vision for our community’s prosperity then we must have the courage to boldly place this vision before those who seek our vote.
Our vision for our prosperity is not bound by party labels. It is rooted in the ground of our folk. In the plans not just the hopes for our children’s well-being, our parents’ ability and opportunity to provide for their families and the safety of our people in going about their everyday lives without fear of assault from any quarter.
Donald Trump's vision was leading in Michigan by 13,107 votes as of Tuesday November 16, 2016. If you believe his vision for America helps your vision for you then you probably believe that the increase in rural voters for Trump is why he won. If you don’t think his vision helps build yours then you are probably agonizing over the 297,000 registered democrats who voted in 2012 who did not vote in 2016. Either way a vision for America won or lost last week. Was your vision reflected in either one of them or do you even have a vision and plan for your prosperity?
In the end it starts with us and does not end with the outcome of any one election.
Ah’m jus’ sayin’.