Whoever wins, let's congratulate them

In early June, I interviewed 30 national finalists for the White House Fellows program as a member of the White House Fellows Commission. I asked all thirty national finalists, “If you could change one thing about America, what would it be?” By far, the most frequent response to the question was along the lines of “reduce the political divisiveness in our society.” I happen to agree.

It would be very easy to point at those we would seek to blame for the divisiveness, (there are plenty of options), but doing that would only generate more divisiveness.

Instead, let’s all — as Ghandi once indirectly said — be the change we want to see in the world by leading and taking responsibility in our own actions.

How can we do this?

We are citizens of the same country, and we have more in common than not. We all want our communities, our states, our country and our people to succeed.

So I suggest that we pledge to wish whoever wins well — whether it was the person we voted for or not.

This may seem like a quaint notion in a hyperpartisan age, but I really do believe that if enough Americans adopted this attitude when they vote, it would go a long way toward reducing the divisiveness in the country. This doesn’t mean we can’t disagree with others or still be true to our personal values, but it simply means that we respect the choice of the voters — our fellow citizens — and wish whoever they choose well.

If you need additional inspiration, here is an excerpt from John McCain’s concession speech to Barack Obama in 2008:

“I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

“Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

“It is natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together...”

Justin Sayfie, Aventura