… And I approve of this message. How many times have we heard some candidate give his or her name and then repeat that phrase as part of a campaign commercial during the past several months? Too many. And far too often the messages of which those candidates approve have been focused on fear or divisive politics.

Not having to hear that phrase, and more importantly the commercials, bandied about our airwaves is a great benefit of having this election in our rear view mirrors.

But now is not the time to forget about the messages we send. In a campaign season where many people seemed not just to oppose a candidate but rather hate him or her, it is important we find a positive message to send.

That doesn’t mean you have to agree with all of our leaders’ ideas or, by any means, blindly follow them. But at some time, respect must re-emerge in our public discourse. We can disagree but do so in a respectful manner and allow everyone to move past a campaign of pandering and politics. To refuse to do so will threaten our country, not unlike many of the evils our politicians urge us to be vigilant against.

To those who had candidates on the losing side of the elections, it is time to remember that there is a difference between being an opponent and being an obstacle. Speaking your mind and lobbying for your position is still a needed activity. But living in the past and digging up old bones from a campaign isn’t productive. It isn’t what this country needs.

What this country needs is to let democracy work. And we need to do that in a manner and tone that takes us back to the ideals on which this country was founded.

After months of being bombarded with messages, the American public needs to send a single message to our neighbors at home and abroad. We need to remind everyone, with our actions, that there is a good reason why the name of our country has the word “United” in it.

Now, that’s a message worth approving.