Respecting the results

Let’s be clear about something: If Donald J. Trump wins the Nov. 8 election, he’ll be president of the United States.

Period. Full stop.

Much has been made of Trump’s repeated comments that he’d refuse to “accept” the result of the presidential election unless it shows him the winner. Not only is this childish and somewhat ridiculous, it’s also irrelevant.

As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is fond of saying, scientific truths do not depend on belief for accuracy. The Earth revolves around the sun whether anybody believes it does or not. The same goes for elections. Whether or not Trump or his followers are willing to say they will accept the election results sight unseen, they will nonetheless be the results, regardless of who wins or loses.

So if Trump earns a slightly larger share of the Electoral College vote in early November, he will ascend to the first elected position he’s ever had: president of the United States of America.

He’ll be commander-in-chief of U.S. armed forces. He’ll have the power to issue pardons, make treaties and appoint officials to his government, if the Senate concurs. And yes, he will have the authority to make appointments to the Supreme Court (again, with the consent of the Senate).

It’s important for every good American to embrace this now, regardless of your opinion of Trump. Whether you think he’s a narcissist and a buffoon who will irreparably damage America, or whether you think he’s the prescription to cure the Republican-Democratic stalemate in Washington, D.C., know this: If he’s elected, he will become the president. Mine, yours, everybody’s.

And anyone who can’t or won’t say that — election results unseen — misunderstands the Constitution, or is contemptuous of it.

By the same token, if Hillary Clinton gains the majority in the Electoral College, she will become president of the United States (and, in an historical side note, will also be the first woman to hold the post). She will inherit the powers and duties and awesome responsibilities of being the leader of the free world.

And every single good American in the country should be able to say — right here, and right now, not two weeks from now — that if she earns those votes and gets that result, they will accord her the respect to which the office of president is entitled. That goes for the most rabid Trump supporter and the most radical follower of Bernie Sanders.

Trump’s inability to embrace this idea — he’s said he’ll accept the results of the election only “if I win” — may be a result of his considerable ego. A person who has self-identified as a winner, with a winning temperament, who knows how to win, and who will win so much the American people will tire of all the winning, just can’t conceive of losing in a fair fight.

Thus, another explanation is necessary. For Trump, it’s the idea of voter fraud, and fraud on a massive scale. Although officials have discounted this idea, Trump has grasped at every straw to justify not having to make a concession call in the event he turns up the loser on Election Day.

Clinton? She’s promised to continue the political fight against Republican policies as a private citizen if she loses the election.

The idea that there are only two kinds of elections — the ones you win and the ones they stole from you — is as cynical and simplistic a view of politics as there is. It rightly belongs with the fringe candidates hawking their self-published books in the dark warrens of conventions populated by like-minded partisans.

For the rest of us, and especially for those two candidates imbued with the nomination of the major political parties, respect for the will of the voters and the Constitution must be paramount.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.