Regardless of who wins this bitterly contested election, the victor will face the same basic, daunting, task: reconciling the vast promises that have been made, both in this campaign and earlier, with the government¡¯s limited ability to meet those promises.

It won¡¯t be easy.

You can blame Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or both for this campaign¡¯s guttural nature ¡ª the lies, insults, exaggerations and accusations ¡ª and certainly they can¡¯t be exonerated from the sins of distortion and embitterment. But it is too easy to blame this democratic debacle only on the candidates¡¯ flaws.