Let me say, briefly, to my many diverse friends this morning (from my hotel room in Ohio), that where we find ourselves today is what our constitution was specifically constructed to address. Our government was organized not to be a vehicle for effective public administration (much to the frustration of Alexander Hamilton), but to protect the rights of individuals and political (and religious) minorities and to constrain the power of “factions.” Their great concern was the disappropriation of property of the few by the many — to constrain the tyranny of the demagogue and the majority. At the same time, living in a democracy means what it is about — rule by the majority. The power of that majority has to be respected in order to produce lasting social change. Gandhi and Dr. King understood this. In order to make political progress the hearts and minds of that majority must be moved. The politics of divisiveness produced the political result we now face. The way forward is not more division. It is to persuade, to appeal to agape — our connections as people. A very large number of people in this country have demonstrated that they resent having their values and culture belittled. While it is true that a cynical politics appealing to people’s worst instincts for decades have persuaded them that they are far worse off than they actually are, both politically and economically; more fundamentally, they consider themselves hard-working and decent; and have lashed out at being indicted as racists, homophobes and misogynists by coastal elites — people they regard themselves as being different from. As hard as it may be to imagine, we need to work to appeal to their humanity and move them — not to plot how to beat them politically the next time because of our moral and intellectual superiority. It is that kind of thinking that got us where we are. The republic will survive.