America left with a lot of soul-searching to do after the election

After such a divisive election, where lies the soul of America, asks Caroline O’Doherty

THIS week’s presidential election has left the US with a lot of soul-searching to do — not just searching its soul, in fact, but searching for it.

After what happened at the polls, is it truer to say the soul of America lies in the rural and regional hinterlands, in largely white, Christian, conservative, blue-collar, and muddy-boot communities, cautious in their dealings with the wider world and fiercely protective of what they have created around them?