DAVID MARCUS: Some Democrats are giving Trump a chance. Republicans, let's meet them half way

"He won," Alan told me after we had sloshed the Clara C Prosecco around our mouths a bit, "it was decisive," he added, "and he gets to do what he wants to do now. I might not love it, but let's see what happens."

Alan's attitude, along with that of the other liberals who I have spoken to this past week, are distinctly different from the anger, and frankly, pageantry that resulted from Trump's first victory eight years ago.  

Trump's first term as president was barely given a chance; half the country and about 90% of the news media treated it not so much as a new administration, but as a crisis that had to be thwarted. 

That level of disdain is not happening this time, and while that provides Trump a runway to do the things he wants to do as president, it also means he has no excuses should he fail.

The reaction to Trump's win brought to mind a conversation I had a few days before the election with Susan, a retired woman in her late 60s who is no Trump fan but thought he would win.

"If he wins," she told me, "He'll have to prove himself."

This is also what I heard from Sam, in his mid-30s at Arlington National Cemetery. Also a Democrat, he told me as we looked over the rolling hills of bright white tombstones, "It's about these guys," he told me, "this is what they fought for." 

"Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country," is an  immortal and humbling call, and I see signs that disappointed Democrats are taking it to heart as Trump 2.0 begins.

""In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating - they're eating the pets of the people that live there," a Trump signature phrase from this election, will likely never be engraved in stone, but that doesn't mean that he cannot ultimately be a unifying figure.

Donald Trump and all of us have a real chance to come together and heal our nation over the next four years. I see how badly people want that. 

It is my fervent prayer that all of us take advantage of this opportunity.