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A lot is being said about what the Republicans need to do to appeal to a broader base of voters. As an outsider, I have a suggestion: Remember 9/11.

On that terrible day Euro-Americans died, African-Americans died, Latino Americans died, male Americans died, female Americans died, gay Americans died, straight Americans died, Christian Americans, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, no religion Americans all died. There were, of course, some from other nations who died, and we grieve their loss as well. But my point is this. It happened on our soil and largely to our own people, to Americans. That is why the grief that pierced the heart of their loved ones pierced the heart of all of us. And why eleven years later the pain they will feel Thanksgiving Day as they remember their family members lost on 9/11 will be a pain we all feel. They were our family, too.

I believe this year’s election sent a simple message to all politicians, but especially those on the far right. We are all Americans. What affects one group of us affects all of us. When there were efforts to make it more difficult for African Americans, the elderly, the poor, and the infirmed to vote in this year’s election, it alarmed all of us. When Latino children born in this country were given a path to citizenship rather than deportation, those of us already American rejoiced because we knew deep down they were our children, too. When the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry was affirmed by voters in Maine and Maryland, it was cause for all of us to give thanks. When male politcians insisted American women should be forced to carry a pregnancy by rape to full term, that kind of moral rigidity stunned all of us. Because the economy hasn’t been working for many Americans, especially the poor, all of us – including most of those at the top – want a more level playing field. When health insurance is not available to or affordable for 45 million Americans, their plight is something that offends the moral conscience of all of us.

Here’s what I believe about our country. In regard to any and every issue we face today, most Americans want all Americans to have a fair chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We want all Americans to do well. So those who are telling Republicans to do a better job at packaging the same old message to Latinos, blacks, women, and the young, do them no favors. They are overlooking something very basic to the American way of life. We tolerate extremism that tries to divide us because we are Americans, but it is for the same reason that ultimately we don’t embrace it.

Talking heads on the right and the left have their day in the sun, but I truly believe the take away from November’s vote is that in the long run it is only a day. That’s because before we were ever conservative, liberal, moderate, libertarian,  Democrat, Republican, Independent we were – and are – first and foremost Americans.

To see the names of those who died on 9/11, and to see the faces of their loved ones left behind, you see the amazing and wonderful diversity that makes this nation the great place it is. In November we said with our votes that we want politicians who know this, believe this, and will do their work never forgetting this. That is why on Thursday all of us will celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, but also and always together as Americans.