Nov 13, 2016 3 min read

With the dust finally settling on this contentious presidential election, the time to govern is approaching.

President-elect Donald Trump put together an impressive coalition of support that was strong enough to deliver him to a decisive Electoral College victory that will propel him to the White House.

His voters felt marginalized and forgotten on many issues important to them. While we might not always agree with some of their views, we do understand them.

But we should remind Trump’s supporters who for so long have held the belief they are a silent majority within this country that they are not actually in the majority.

To be sure, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton ran an awful campaign and ultimately lost the election because she shunned white, middle-class voters who felt left behind. But she did win the popular vote by nearly a million votes across the country. That might mean more people in this country believe in her vision of America over Trump’s.

The same goes for congressional candidates. Democrats running for Congress received more votes than Republicans, but because of gerrymandering of congressional districts following the 2010 census, Republicans still hold a strong majority in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the GOP will likely hold a narrow 52-to-48 advantage in the Senate.

Of course, to the victor goes the spoils, and that means Republicans will control both the executive and legislative branches, with the likelihood of nominating a staunch conservative to the Supreme Court. That’s their right to govern. They won.

But some of the political maneuvers being floated by Republican leaders in the House and Senate are very concerning to us.

First, some are discussing ending the 60-vote filibuster rule in the Senate in favor of a simple majority vote to consider and end debate on bills.

That is an astonishing turnaround by the Republican leadership that wielded the filibuster as a weapon against President Obama and the Democrats to block anything and everything for the past seven-plus years.

It would be a dangerous maneuver to remove a tool that puts the brakes on policies that don’t have overwhelming support. It also would be hypocritical considering how Republicans used it unflinchingly to block Obama’s agenda.

There are also rumblings out of the Capitol that the Senate might attempt to perform two budgetary reconciliations in an attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. This would be unprecedented and illegal.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has called Trump’s victory a mandate. We simply disagree.

Regardless of political leanings, there should be an acknowledgement this country – and the electorate as a whole – is so evenly divided neither party has a mandate.

Rather than pursuing a far-right agenda, it would be wise for the incoming Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress to actually work with Democrats to solve problems rather than shun them and their supporters.

Those in power should be reminded that another election awaits in two years, when the majority in the Senate could easily flip to the Democrats.

We’re hearing a lot about binding the wounds of this divided nation.

Trump could start doing just that by listening to the plurality of voters who did not choose him as their president.

To heal this divided country, Trump should govern from the center.

He represents us all now.