Post Election Thoughts
My wife will be upset with me for saying this – but today I am a Marylander through and through! I have lived, after all, in this state for 20 years – including 17 straight – but what pride I have for my adopted state for being the first in the nation to VOTE for marriage equality! Yes, I know Maine, Minnesota, and Washington can all say the same – but Maryland was historic! I want to personally thank every one of my fellow citizens for voting yes on Question 6 – it was the right thing to do and YOU did it!
Kudos to the voters in Missouri and Indiana! Despite going to Romney with roughly 54% in each state, voters did not vote party first when choosing senators, rejecting Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock! For what it’s worth, had the Tea Party not pushed for Mourdock in the primary election, Richard Lugar (R) would still represent the state of Indiana. Hopefully this is a lesson Republicans will take to heart and stop letting the lunatic fringe dictate the choice of clowns in the primaries. I doubt it, but I’m an optimist…
Some pundits were speculating the morning after that Obama’s victory falls short of a “mandate” for governing. I think it’s fair to point out that the 2012 election results mirror the margins of the Bush reelection in 2004, while far exceeding the electoral college vote.
| Bush 2004 | Obama 2012 | |
| Electoral Vote | 286 – 251 | 332 – 206 (includes Florida) |
| States carried | 31 – 19 + DC | 26+DC – 24 (includes Florida) |
| Popular vote | 62,040,610 - 59,028,444 | 60,481,241- 57,678,067 |
| Percentage | 50.7% 48.3% | 50.4% - 48.1% |
Michelle Bachmann narrowly won reelection in her Minnesota congressional district (by less than 1%). Had she lost, that would have been the cherry on the top of my banana split! As it was, I had to “settle” for the toppings of a defeated Allen West and Joe Walsh! With those two asshats booted out of the clown car, I can almost enjoy Bachmann staying in congress for comic relief!
The coming months will be telling for the future of the Republican party. Will they hold to the idea that they put forth a poor candidate and double down on reckless conservatism or will they come to the realization that certain positions the party has taken over the last 25 years need to be modified? As Lindsey Graham (R-SC) noted, there just aren’t enough angry white men to sustain the party in the long run. Adopting policies that are more inclusive of Hispanics and homosexuals would go a long way to making the party viable in the future (let’s face it, a snow ball has a better chance in hell than the black vote going Republican). Obama crushed Romney on the strength of double digit leads among women, Hispanic and African American voters, and younger voters (30 and under). What type of constituency does that leave Republicans? It’s not a matter of convincing people you have the right agenda – you’ve tried and failed on this. Now it’s time to make concessions to your agenda in order to attract new blood.
Since the 2000 election, the delta between winning and losing is roughly 2 percent. President Bush lost the popular vote by a half percentage point in 2000. A roughly one percent change would have tilted the 2012 election to Romney. We are an ideologically divided country. There are two great quotes that sum up where we are today:
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” – Abraham Lincoln, 1858“Haters gonna hate” – unknown
Conservatives are going through some serious anguish the morning after, while liberals, moderates, and sane people are rejoicing. Acrimony abounds and wounds are being washed in salt. I half-jokingly stated “Let the healing begin” knowing that as divided as this country has become, healing is next to impossible. We are a nation of winners and losers. Had this election turned the other way, by the same margins, conservatives would be crowing in victory, with no care whatsoever for the pain the “other” 49% of the country would be experiencing today – because they would have won. We can “talk” all we want about conciliation, but few really want that. So do what you do when your team wins a big game – talk shit! Just saying…
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