Dr. Phil To Voters: Get Over It

If Republicans and Democrats would focus on the things they have in common as Americans, they would be able to move the country forward after the bitterly divisive presidential campaign, says Dr. Phil McGraw, author, TV host and therapist.

"I think it is our finest hour when we can have this kind of difference of opinion, which is at a really core value level, and the next morning, everything is running just fine," McGraw tells The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "Everybody is going to school, everybody is going to work. It's the only country in the world that can you really expect that kind of reaction after a really huge difference in an election."

McGraw says he is not surprised that each side showed contempt for the other because the issues in this election are "things that really cut to some of our core values and beliefs, that really can make a difference. And it seems to threaten family, and family is the most important thing in people's lives."

The way to move on, he says, is simply to agree to disagree.

"People aren't going to see things exactly the same. But the point is we have to respect the other person's right to disagree and recognize that doesn't mean that they're less patriotic and it doesn't mean they love the country less and it doesn't mean that they're wrong," McGraw says. "It just means they're different from where we are. We have to respect people's right to disagree and understand that on other areas, very important areas, that we all have the same important priorities and, again, that's family, it's our health and making our lives and our children successful."

Americans have so much on which they agree that they don't need to focus on the disagreements, he says.

McGraw, whose TV show is in its third season, has just written a new book, "Family First," and is devoting a lot of his show to the concepts in the book. On Friday, a special segment looks at "How You Look Drunk." Thirty volunteers allowed cameras to follow their every move during a drinking experiment to capture how alcohol affects their inhibitions, skills, better judgment and personality.

"I want every parent to get their teenager by the ear and have them sit down and watch this show," McGraw says. "I want the adults to watch it, too, because we're coming into the holiday season. This is a time we've looked at a very important issue, and that's drinking and partying, and what you see in this show is the personality changes, the reasoning changes that go on throughout the evening."