David Andreatta

@david_andreatta

A mea culpa is in order, or at least an explanation.

I blew it big league when I wrote on Election Day that those of you who were disillusioned with the outcome of the presidential race would get over it in a week, maybe two.

That assertion distorted reality and minimized legitimate concerns about a Donald Trump presidency. The parade of protests accompanying Trump's inauguration more than two months later underscores just how off base it was.

Such an audacious declaration wasn't conjured from thin air. It was grounded in research by some very smart people who found we tend to adapt to outcomes we've dreaded more quickly than we expect.

They studied previous elections and concluded that while the emotional trauma of a preferred candidate losing was greater than that experienced during a national tragedy, the pain subsided rather quickly and life went on.

That's what they said, anyway.

But those elections weren't the presidential contest of 2016, which defied convention in many ways, including in that both major party candidates were reviled by large swaths of the electorate.

To many voters, the prospect of a Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency wasn't just something unpleasant, like a root canal. It was unfathomable. Simply put, the findings didn't apply.

Most readers recognized this. I did, too, but only when it was too late to do anything about it. I've felt sick ever since.

I wrote the column on Election Day not knowing the outcome of the race and imagining the topic having universal appeal regardless of the winner. It was also intended as a reminder of the big picture — that America's institutions are stronger than any one president.

In my gut, though, I envisioned the piece serving as a consolation to Trump supporters in the wake of a Clinton victory.

That was presumptuous for two reasons. The first and most obvious is that Clinton didn't win. The second was that I neglected to consider how a Clinton win might have devastated Trump supporters. That's patronizing.

Much has been said in the aftermath of the election about the need for journalists to search their souls. Consider this an exploration of mine.

I couldn't, and still can't, imagine Trump supporters demonstrating in the streets had the election gone the other way. Like all Americans, they're accustomed to the status quo and Clinton was nothing if not the status quo.

That doesn't mean, though, that Trump supporters wouldn't have been demoralized and further despair over the state of their country. I've spoken with many and they've relayed as much.

I'm not talking about the deplorables — the racists, xenophobes and misogynists who gravitated toward Trump. They belong in a basket.

I'm talking about well-meaning people whose lives have been upended by economic forces beyond their control, such as the disappearance of good manufacturing jobs and stagnant wages. They feel betrayed by the entire political establishment.

So do I. Why they feel Trump spoke to them still confounds me, though.

He has talked of repealing the law that gave struggling families health insurance, deporting millions of our neighbors, de-funding public schools, imposing religious tests, dismantling NATO and rolling back laws that safeguard the rights of gays, lesbians and women.

Since his election, he has infuriated China, cozied up to Russia, shrugged off federal anti-nepotism laws and left himself open to suspicion of corruption in relation to his business holdings.

The only thing Trump has gotten right is his assertion that America no longer works for ordinary Americans. The economic system in this country is broken. Unfortunately, Trump has helped break it, profiting from outsourced jobs and corporate welfare tax breaks.

What I should have written on Election Day was that, despite research by some very smart people, those of you disillusioned by the prospect of a Trump administration wouldn't feel better in a week or two.

What I should have also written was that I fear those of you elated at the prospect of a Trump presidency won't feel better in four years.

That said, Trump will be the president come Friday and the best any of us can do is give him a chance, hope he doesn't screw up and fight back if he does.

David Andreatta is a Democrat and Chronicle columnist. He can be reached at dandreatta@gannett.com.