Like newlyweds, newly-elected presidents traditionally enjoy a honeymoon with the American people.
It's that first month of marriage – a moon – when things are as sweet and delectable as honey. That period of affection and good will, usually lasting far longer than a month, has been an American tradition.
When Barack Obama took office in January of 2009, he had the support of 67% of the American people. Tens of millions of people who had voted for John McCain were eager to see Mr. Obama succeed.
What about eight years earlier, when the polarizing George W. Bush took office? Even after his long and contentious court battle with Al Gore, and despite having lost the popular vote, W's approval rating was about 57%. Once again, most rational people were willing to give him a break and wish him well.
Go back another eight years to Bill Clinton, elected in 1992 with an anemic 43% of the vote. As he took the oath of office in January, Bubba had an approval rating well north of 50%.
So you can see a long and comforting trend. Americans have come together to rally around a new president, as long as his name wasn't Lincoln and you weren't a slaveholder in the South.
But this time around things are different. Vastly different.
Fox News recently asked voters why they favor Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Incredibly, 57% say their primary motivation is fear that the other candidate might win. Are you getting that? Most Americans are not voting for someone they like, they're voting against someone they loathe. Yes, 'loathe' is the right word.
About six in ten Americans really, really dislike both candidates. So what will happen on Friday, January 20th, 2017? Will Americans put aside partisanship and embrace comity? As Eliza Doolittle famously said, 'Not bloody likely!'
We conducted an admittedly non-scientific poll on the BillOReilly.com website, asking people whether they will support the winner of the election. 86% admitted that their deep dislike of their non-preferred candidate will endure.
To be sure, President Trump will enjoy a legislative honeymoon with Congress if it remains in Republican hands. And President Clinton will have support from Congress if it flips to the Democrats. But 'we the people?' That's another story altogether, and not a very encouraging one.
Hillary-haters will continue to see her as a corrupt and incorrigible liar; Donald-despisers, a group that includes the vast majority of the media, will still see him as a latter-day P.T. Barnum, only more insulting.
That's not a good omen for America.
Take another look at history. JFK's approval ratings hovered near 80% in his first year, while LBJ was liked by three-quarters of the American people before he became another casualty of Vietnam.
More recently, both Bushes topped 80% after the first war in Iraq and the invasion of Afghanistan, respectively. Will any president ever again be so widely respected?
Of course, an optimist might say that this is a one-off election, that both parties have nominated candidates who are just plain dislikable. But do you really think Ted Cruz would be any less loathed by the left? How about Scott Walker? Left-wingers in Wisconsin tried to destroy the man.
On the other side, Tim Kaine is already deeply despised by many on the right, especially after Monday's vice presidential debate. Elizabeth Warren has an uncanny knack for eliciting the same kind of enmity. As the Democratic Party has moved left, the Republican Party has moved right, and the gap between them has widened. Red gets redder, blue grows bluer, and America is a country divided.
The good news: It's not nearly as bad as when Lincoln took over and there will be no secessions any time soon. The bad news: Presidential honeymoons may be a quaint relic of the past, kind of like chastity prior to marriage.
The truth is that most of us are somewhere in the political center, between those oft-referenced 40-yard lines. But, to mix sports and metaphors, too many of our politicians are way out there in left and right fields.
Perhaps the two major political parties will eventually veer back toward the center, that vast middle that was home to JFK and Bill Clinton, Nixon and Bush 41. And perhaps they'll nominate candidates who are generally likable human beings. Senators Cory Booker and Mike Pence come to mind.
If and when that happens, we may eventually see the return of the presidential honeymoon. But this time around? Cue Ms. Doolittle!
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