This marathon election is over.

Without question, it has to be one the most unusual presidential elections ever.

As I write this, the media pundits are doing exactly the opposite of the overriding message the American people sent to Washington. The so-called experts are all puzzled as to how it happened. They are talking about the Latino vote, the Black vote, the women’s vote, the suburban vote, the religious vote, the youth vote, and more.

Not a single time have I heard them talk about the American votes.

Donald Trump won for two reasons, and it’s the same reasons recent elections have seen the party in power switch from red to blue, back to red, then back to blue.

What are those two reasons?

You might say the economy and immigration. Or you might say abortion and democracy. Maybe inflation or interest rates. Finally, you might say all of the above, and that is closer to the answer.

But if you go back one year and review the strong messages revealed by nearly every poll, you will find the two reasons.

A year ago, 70% of Americans preferred neither Joe Biden nor Trump run again.

A year ago, and right up to just days before the election, 70% of Americans were dissatisfied the direction our country was headed.

And folks, that’s it!

Anybody but those political partisans and professionals in Washington could understand the people are angry at our federal government for not listening to the people and for not going to work to solve the nation’s problems. They simply can’t hear us or refuse to think we know what we want.

The American people want change. We want Washington to do their job. We want them to stop the partisan warfare and do the people’s work and do it now — not next year, not the next election, but right now.

Do I have any faith they will finally get the message that it is their fault we the people are not satisfied?

Nope, I don’t.

I can’t say all the things we are angry about, but I can list mine. The national debt of over $35 trillion is unacceptable, and every single representative should be ashamed and embarrassed for placing that insurmountable burden onto our children. They haven’t submitted a budget on time for the last 20 years or balanced a budget in the last 23 years or made any significant immigration reform in the last 38 years or made any meaningful reform to Medicare and Social Security in the last 41 years.

We are still struggling with the abortion issue. We can’t fill our military’s recruitment, currently down more than 40,000 recruits. We are struggling to supply our military with munitions, choosing instead to ship them overseas to fight foreign wars. Our tax policy, along with the IRS guidelines, total more than 75,000 pages riddled with loopholes and corporate subsidies, and needs major reform. Elections need reform to remove much of the money.

Our education is failing our children. In 2024, we spent $19,973 per student and ranked 27th in the world in education.

We don’t seem to be able to get our arms around crime in our country.

Health care costs continue to outpace inflation, becoming unaffordable to so many.

And that is just my list.

But to solve those problems and those on your list will take a dedicated effort by all of Washington, specifically the president, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House. Divided won’t work. One only has to look at how long those issues have gone unsolved and how long partisan politics has been the obstacle, and it’s obvious their refusal to consistently work together for the good of the country is the reason.

I hope this election’s message of people’s dissatisfaction with our country’s direction make those in Washington look in the mirror and realize they are the problem and they need to change course and give the people what they want.

Isn’t that what a democratic republic is all about?

We are exhausted, fighting to be heard.

I say, “Washington, hear us. Do your job. Tackle the main issues for the sake of our country.”

Our country’s future is bright and it will survive Trump and would have survived Kamala Harris, but just think of the incredible opportunities that are right there for the picking if we will work together.

We the People do it every day. We go to work with people of all races, all political leanings, all religions, and all sexual orientations.

Washington, do what we do.

You can learn more with your ears than your mouths.

We are watching to see if you get the message.

I was part of the 70% who preferred neither Trump nor Biden, and then Harris ran for president. I feel that, with all the talent in our country, we could have done better.

But I am satisfied with the outcome because I believe in the American people more than those in Washington, and that this is the first election in a long time that has Washington scratching their heads and hopefully unplugging their ears.

What do you think? Let me know.

Greg Awtry is the former publisher of the Scottsbluff (Neb.) Star-Herald and Nebraska’s York News-Times. He is now retired and living in Hubbard Lake. Greg can be contacted at gregawtry@awtry.com.