“I’ve … got … it,” a familiar voice called out as I reached the intersection of 28th and Grand on a late afternoon walk. The evening glooming had already arrived and it was difficult to see the figure hurrying toward me, but I recognized the voice.

It was my old friend K.C. I hadn’t seen him since before the election. I figured he’d gone underground, like a lot of my friends. But he didn’t sound the least bit depressed. In fact, there was an edge of excitement in his voice.

“What do you have?” I asked. “Did you figure out how Donald Trump, the most intellectually vacant president since Chester Arthur, got elected?

“Everybody knows he won because the American people are not the smartest species on the planet,” he grumbled. “They liked that his lies were more outrageous and more entertaining than hers.”

“But won’t he have a tough time governing?” I said. “He promised way more than he can deliver, like killing Obamacare, building the wall, putting Hillary in jail.”

“You give people too much credit,” K.C. said. “Trump started walking things back as soon as he was elected. Did you see him with Leslie Stahl on ‘60 Minutes’? He bailed on all of that, and they still had 40 minutes to spare.” 

“Well,” I said, “what about bringing back jobs? He had people in Michigan believing he was the second coming of Henry Ford. And folks in West Virginia think he’s going to reopen coal mines.” 

“Of course he can’t do either,” K.C. said, “but it won’t matter if he plays his cards right. 

“Look,” he said, “Obama wasn’t able to do much because the Republicans in Congress didn’t want him taking credit, even when it was things they wanted, like more money for infrastructure. 

“Trump is different. He’s their guy. At least he is now. 

“Plus, the one thing Trump understands is development. So if he decides he wants to rebuild the infrastructure — and it looks like that’s where he’s headed — he can do it. The Republican Congress will go along. They’ll vote him as much infrastructure money as he wants. Maybe more. 

“If I’m the governor of Iowa,” K.C. continued, “I’d be staying up late at night going over all of my infrastructure needs and dusting off the ones I really want. I’d push as many shovel-ready projects as possible onto Trump’s list.

“But remember, Trump has a short attention span,” K.C. said. “So if you want to get something done, you’re going to need to get it to him yesterday.” 

“Right now,” K.C. added, “Terry Branstad is in the catbird seat. Last summer no one believed Trump could win Iowa, but Branstad’s son Eric delivered it and a lot more. Trump owes Branstad big, and Terry should be trying to cram as many clean water projects as he can into that big funnel that Trump is going to create for new infrastructure.

“We also should be looking to build as many 21st-century transportation systems as we can,” he said. “Things like high-speed rail and smart freeways for driverless cars. Throw away all our current plans to widen highways. We should concentrate on building smarter, not wider, roads.” 

“Maybe Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie could throw some bicycle-friendly plans into the mix,” I suggested. “The city really needs to do something to make it safer for bicycles, and it doesn’t have much money to pay for anything.” 

“Sure. Why not?” said K.C. 

“You know,” he said as he headed back into the evening gloom, “Trump may be the most intuitive president since Teddy Roosevelt. 

“He’s certain to be the most shocking.”