Change we can believe in.”

Some of us heard that phrase over a year ago and rallied to the call.

Some, on the other had, heard those words with skepticism. From August until November both sides battled, yelled, argued, and then we voted.

On Nov. 4, there were two candidates. On Nov. 5 there was only a president-elect.

On Jan. 20 our first African-American president was sworn in on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln placed his hand on.

Our president, not their president.

No matter where you stood ideologically during the great campaign, the president that was sworn in on Wednesday is your president too. You may very likely disagree with him, distrust him, or bad talk him, but at the end of the day, he is simply a man, like you and I.

No one can really know what pressures a president faces. Often a partisan president is elected, only to slowly slide to the political middle while in office. That’s because the Office of President is more than just Republican or Democrat. It is an office that represents all of the people. It is something we must remember and we must support him respectfully. It is also something he must remember and he must learn that the country is a melting pot of ideas and he must be open to hearing from all of us.

Democrat or Republican, black and white, we all have more in common than we realize. In the end, we’re all members of Adam’s race. We’re all imperfect. It is our humanity that unites us. Our status as American citizens also unites us. We all want what is best for this country. The state of our economy unites us probably more than we realize.

In these trying times we must unite together to make this country great. We also must unite behind President Barack Obama. We are bound to disagree with him, but we must find a way to make our disagreements known to him in a respectful way.

Perhaps we should let the words of President Barack Obama speak for themselves: “I’m calling on all Americans – Democrats and Republicans – to put good ideas ahead of old ideological battles; a sense of common purpose above the same narrow partnership…”