It appears the only thing local voters embrace more than liquor is Donald Trump.
As the celebration begins to settle and we get a sober look at what we’ve done, here are my takes on Election Day:
• Now is probably the time to walk back a few harsh statements I may have made during the heat of the election campaign. Contrary to what I claimed beforehand, I’m not going to move to Kentucky if Trump wins the presidency. I just thought I should clarify that.
• It’s rigged! It's rigged! The election is rigged!
Had the presidential race gone the other way, that would be the storyline engulfing the nation right now. I’m just curious to hear how our oppressive and corrupt election system has suddenly become so pure and accurate.
• The bottle is the big winner in our small town where an amazing 62% of the people voted for package liquor stores. The conventional wisdom is this will keep our tax dollars at home and be a huge convenience for drinkers.
Point taken, but I wonder how this will apply to McMinnville where people like to play hide and seek on their way to buy alcohol. Our tax dollars may still continue to drive to Manchester and Woodbury because no one wants to be spotted at a liquor store.
Fortunately, I’ve found a way to combat this problem. We can name our new store Bible Liquors.
• A Republican is on his way to the White House to join a Republican-dominated Congress and a soon-to-be Republican Supreme Court. This means we should either: 1) overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision at some point over the next four years to outlaw abortion, or 2) agree to never mention it again.
• What a political transformation this community has experienced. It was just six short years ago when Blaine Wilcher was broadcasting his accomplishment as the first-ever Republican elected in Warren County. Now your chances of winning here as a Democrat are remote.
I knew Trump would carry Warren County. However, I never thought a Republican would command 70%   of the vote here. It's hard to believe.
• I’m sorry to see state Rep. Kevin Dunlap voted out of the General Assembly and I’m sorry to see Warren County lose this seat in the process. For those keeping score, Warren County once again has zero representation in Nashville.
The thing I hate about losing Kevin is he’s a smart guy with real energy. When I look at our state of 6.5 million people, we only have 132 lawmakers in Nashville deciding our direction.
Ideally, those 132 people will have intelligence and ideas. Ideally, they will possess some type of leadership skills to move this state forward.
Kevin certainly has those skills at a time when they are lacking in politics. But you're not going to get any velocity as a Democrat in Tennessee these days.
Standard editor James Clark can be reached at 473-2191.