The nation awoke Wednesday to a new president-elect, the result of an election that took nearly everyone by surprise and caused anxiety for some and optimism for others.
The coffee shop, where folks go to eat breakfast, read the newspaper and gossip, is also a place — depending on their political persuasion — where they can vent or rejoice about election results.
At PJ’s in McComb Wednesday afternoon, the mood was calm but tentative.
Tijwana Winding, a McComb pastor, viewed the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency with resignation.
“It doesn’t really matter to me who won,” she said, “because we didn’t have too much to choose from. I didn’t like those things he said about women but overall I’m cool with it.”
Dr. Jose Cepeda, another pastor, was not so accepting of the election results.
“I’m just at odds right now with everything.”
Cepeda expressed particular reservations about Trump’s approach to foreign affairs.
“One thing that scares me is that he said, ‘I love war.’ And I don’t like that he’s so chummy-chummy with Putin.”
Dee Burton, a PJ’s employee, holds no ill will.
“We’re looking at it from a spiritual perspective,” she said.
Wendy Robinson, the PJ’s manager, agreed.
“The Lord put Trump in there for a reason.”
Like Burton, she isn’t bitter.
“I prayed, I went to bed, I woke up,” she said. And when she learned the election results, “I thanked God for my blessings — my kids are healthy and I have a job. If I can trust Him for that, I can trust Him to work the government.”
Cepeda, the pastor, repeated a sentiment heard widely after the election.
“We’re a great nation, but right now, we’re a nation divided,” Cepeda said.
Lorraine Gayden, a longtime Democrat, was not so pleased and just as surprised.
“I’m still in shock,” she said while grocery shopping in Summit.
Some Clinton supporters are now turning to others for emotional and spiritual guidance.
Tasha Dillon, pastor for New Life Fellowship Center said she’s been contacted by church members and others about the election. She told them to keep in mind that elections can “go either way.”
Dillon knows a thing or two about close and bitter political contests. She ran unsuccessfully last year for a state legislative seat and challenged the election results.
Dillon said it doesn’t matter who the country’s new president-elect is because God is still God.
“Whether we got our way or not, our ultimate trust is in the Lord. We have a new president but the same, consistent, all-powerful God,” she said.
Dillon said there may be apprehension as to what kind of president Trump will be because of how he ran.
“He campaigned with a polarizing and divisive platform and he showed a lack of respect for women, military heroes and cultural diversity, even displaying actions of a bully, inciting hate and violence, so to say there is concern is an understatement,” she said. “However, over the next years Americans can step up to the plate and still unify on behalf of citizens’ best interests. I think people are concerned, yet hopeful, and willing to work toward a better America. I believe the majority of people want to live in peace with their families.”
Warren Ellis Gilmore, a former McComb selectman and a longtime Democratic party supporter isn’t so optimistic.
Gilmore said Trump opened up wounds that have been hidden deep inside America for decades.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that his administration will heal the nation unless he’s fooled everyone, including the people who voted for him,” he said Wednesday. “Quite frankly, I would be as surprised as I was when I woke up this morning.”
Gilmore said that when President Barack Obama was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, he also came in with a promise to heal.
Gilmore gives Trump credit for successfully running a grassroots campaign and tapping into the emotions of his supporters.
“He ran a masterful campaign, whether you like him or not,” he said.
He said he may not like the idea of Trump being president, but he won’t do what he believes others have done to President Obama.
“I will not blatantly disrespect him. That’s what I will not do, the way others did President Obama,” he said. “I won’t do President Trump that way. I believe they disrespected him as a man and as a president.”
Yet, in the midst of the worry, there is a silver lining for some.
Michael Cameron, a Republican who holds a seat on the McComb city board and owns the Cork & Cask liquor store, is optimistic about the future — and future sales.
Cameron said he hasn’t seen a post-election sales spike, but he’s hopeful it will come — either in the form of Democrats drowning their sorrows or Republicans raising a celebratory glass.
“I’m kind of hoping that will increase,” he said. “I’m glad that (Trump won), and I’m hoping it’ll help people turn loose some of their money.”
