This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As she watched the election returns late Tuesday, Jessica Anderson couldn't fight back the tears or the feeling her country had just been diminished.
Americans picked a president who boasted that his celebrity gives him the power to grab women when he wants to, who has said demeaning things about minorities and bullied his opponents.
"It was very demoralizing to me to think that so many Americans could look past his foul nature and still vote for him," she said. "I was very depressed."
Anderson, who lives in Spanish Fork, isn't a Democrat or a Hillary Clinton supporter. She's a lifelong Republican and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but like many Americans with far different political views than hers, she felt the election of Donald Trump was a dark day.
When The Salt Lake Tribune, in partnership with the Utah Public Insight Network, asked readers to suggest what Trump should to do in the early days of his presidency, Anderson sent her advice: "Apologize. Apologize and show true remorse for all of the degrading words and actions toward women. ... Acknowledge that women are equal to men in importance and ability."
Broadly speaking, readers of all political stripes, including those who voted for Trump, encouraged the president-elect to soften his language and reach out to those who fear what he'll do in office.
"Tone down the rhetoric, be respectful in his comments to others, be more compassionate to others' plights," said Stephen Palmer, who lives in Springville.
He voted for Trump, largely because Palmer wants the Supreme Court to have a majority of conservative justices. He also believes Trump will give the economy a jolt, while protecting gun rights and shifting power from Washington, D.C., to the states.
Like Anderson, he is concerned about the way Trump talked on that infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, in which he bragged about groping women. Palmer also disagrees with Trump on immigration. The president-elect has said he wants to boost deportations and build a wall along the border with Mexico. Palmer hopes that talk is nothing more than a negotiating strategy from the billionaire businessman.
"When you are making a deal in business, you start outrageous at first and you get a little more to the middle where you wanted to be," Palmer said. "I hope that is what happens."
Anderson doesn't harbor those hopes. She voted for independent Evan McMullin, while her Republican husband voted for Clinton. She stands by her decision, criticizing the Democratic nominee as a politician who would have pushed the country toward socialism. At the same time, she said, she had already "come to peace" with a Clinton administration.
"I felt I could fight for an America who voted for Clinton and fight against some of her political goals," Anderson said. "I don't know how to fight for an America that doesn't care about values."
Brittney Griffith, a Republican from Pleasant Grove, also voted for McMullin largely in protest against Trump.
"I don't identify with the Republican Party now because so many top officials put their support behind him," she said. "It has kind of disenfranchised me a little bit from the party, because I can't stand for what he stands for."
Specifically, Griffith is offended by comments Trump made about women, minorities and people of different faiths; his positive talk about Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin; and his history of donating to Democrats.
"I hope he isn't the crazy misogynistic, racist person he sure has made himself look to be," she said.
What does she want him to prioritize once he takes office? Repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Trump has put the dismantling of the law known as Obamacare at the top of his list, though in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday he said he'd like to keep some pieces — such as the expansion of Medicaid.
"The fact that he wants to repeal it," Griffith said, " ... is probably one of the only things we agree on."
Joe Guanzon, a liberal who wrote in Bernie Sanders, said it's possible that Trump will seek to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, but he expects the new administration to find that difficult to do.
"I don't think he'll do it without having a viable replacement," said Guanzon, who lives in Eagle Mountain. "He may take a hard look at all the promises he made and realize he can't do most of it."
He wants Trump to appoint a Supreme Court justice who will leave intact the decisions legalizing gay marriage and abortion, wants him to distance himself from Putin and build bridges with minorities.
"Hopefully, he sets a realistic agenda," Guanzon said.
Stephen Peck, a Democrat living in Herriman, is optimistic that the president-elect will move slowly and be more of a centrist than many expect.
"I think America is in for a shock as he settles into his role as the leader of the free world and none of his platforms he ran on are immediately pursued," Peck predicted.
"Trump is more liberal than people who elected him probably realize."
Trump has spelled out what he'd like to do in his first 100 days in office. Beyond revamping Obamacare, he also plans to propose a constitutional amendment to create term limits on members of Congress, impose a federal hiring freeze to reduce the government workforce, eliminate two regulations for every new one created and extend the ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists. Among other actions, he wants to sanction China as a currency manipulator, push a bill to rebuild roads, bridges and highways, lift restrictions on building the Keystone oil pipeline and cancel executive orders signed by President Barack Obama.
In his Wall Street Journal interview, Trump added a new plank: bringing the nation together. "I want a country that loves each other," he said. "I want to stress that."
But when asked if his campaign rhetoric had been too extreme, Trump responded: "No. I won."
— This story was informed by sources in the Utah Public Insight Network. To become a news source for The Salt Lake Tribune, go to http://www.sltrib.com/upin.
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