Well, it's early morning on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, so that can mean only one thing - it's over! At last! As the polls suggested, the country is split right down the middle in terms of the popular vote, with essentially half of the electorate happy and the other half about to wake up disappointed, as I stated in my last blog. But perhaps mirroring many who feel the same way, we know there is one little girl who will be smiling simply due to the fact that it's all finally over!
Of course, we are only at the beginning, again, and some might might say we are right back to square one, given the reality of what just transpired. So Mr. Obama keeps his job as leader of a totally divided country where half of the population voted for the other guy - at this point the breakdown in popular vote appears to be 50% Obama - 49% Romney. I don't care how pundits want to spin that, it is half and half.
This cannot be seen as some huge endorsement of a dysfunctional Washington or what happened there during a first term where Obama's hands got tied since the mid-terms in 2010. Neither can it be seen as any kind of real endorsement of what has been done for the economy given that the record-breaking unbroken unemployment highs over years speak for themselves. He got lucky, again, is all. Once more, he asked people to "believe" and vote not for what he did, but for what he will (that usually translates as "might" in Obamaspeak) do. Given his record, and its broken promises, it takes some pretty big ones to ask that in 2012, but he is a master of campaign rhetoric and hyperbole so he got the extra voter fraction needed to believe, again. If he had been up against a Chris Christie, or even a Condi Rice, he would be packing today!
So, he better realize and quick, that the second four is not going to go any slower than the first. Now that he asked the populus to believe once more, he better do a better job of actually delivering. If he has eight years under his belt with things still a mess, he could damage his legacy more than it has been already, and end up almost regretting that he had eight years to (dis)prove himself - no doubt delivering sermons on the subject of "If only I had been given four more (i.e. twelve years) I could have gotten it done, folks!". That is a totally imaginable scenario for this guy.
Go ahead and have a great night, and one or two big celebrity-laden celebratory parties, Mr. President, but by Monday morning get the staff to clear out Air Force One, and tell George, and JayBey, and Bruce, et al.,, that they have no future in the White House and that they have to go back to work, too. Off you go now, people, y'all are stars, you ain't got nothing to do with daily politics and clearing the mess that the country is in. In fact, you are the types who got richer under the previous regime, while the middle class got eroded!
The country is in a mess, in great part, due to the mess that is the House. This election reinforces the status quo that has existed for the last two years, and that is unlikely to change in the short term. Nothing much changes: the Republicans retain a solid majority in the House, and the Democrats added a little to their majority in the Senate. So politics in Washington are set for the same chaos that has rifled the country recently, and has led to an approval rating of Congress that is so low as to be unthinkable - a tiny 6%. That is truly shocking!
Mr. Obama better get to work on correcting the dysfunction in Congress or this second term could turn out to be meaningless. Not only do Republicans have to stand up and start doing the job they are being paid to do, but Obama also has to do a truckload more to actually lead and "turn this thing around". The only true thing this time is that "listen, if we can't turn this thing around in three years, well, we are looking at a retirement proposition". No one is going to argue with that.
But it's not even as simple as just partisan politics: there are Democrats in Washington who have been sidelined by the White House elite, and who don't get invited to the party. Imagine that! Never mind the whole Dems-Reps vitriol that fills the House on a daily basis - there are Dems who apparently get no better treatment from their own leader and are not involved in "the conversation"! These are symptoms of fundamental problems at the very top that have got to be worked on and worked out for the sake of the country that pays their hefty salaries and for whom they all theoretically (only) actually work!
The test of leadership is ahead of Obama now, and the world is watching. Are you the figurative head of a dysfunctional government for which you must take some responsibility, or are you the man who can lead that government properly and evolve it from that dysfunction into something that is at least workable, if not actually succeeding at what it is trying to achieve? For sure the first term record says a firm "no!" to the latter, but now you have a second term to try again, so let's see if you can do what you say you can do, and actually lead!
Mitt Romney has got nothing to feel upset about - he turned what was initially looking like a whitewash into a real presidential race, full of fire and brimstone and adrenaline, and kept the momentum going right up until election night itself. The breakdown of the popular vote shows that he produced amazing numbers against an extremely popular incumbent, always an uphill battle, and even professional athletes smile and shake hands when the football game got won by a score of 50-49. No one was embarrassed.
But old school old guard Republican problems (otherwise called Akin and Mourdock) in Missouri and Indiana cost Romney precious electoral votes, and further distanced women voters in particular from the party. This combined with a burgeoning need to appeal to the Hispanic vote in various southern Republican strongholds (until recently) means that the party is out of touch with key demographics that are needed to win. In 2012, the Republican party has become a dinosaur to which old school white men can relate, but basically nobody else. This is a massive roadblock for them, and you can be sure much analysis of that situation will be taking place shortly.
But old school old guard Republican problems (otherwise called Akin and Mourdock) in Missouri and Indiana cost Romney precious electoral votes, and further distanced women voters in particular from the party. This combined with a burgeoning need to appeal to the Hispanic vote in various southern Republican strongholds (until recently) means that the party is out of touch with key demographics that are needed to win. In 2012, the Republican party has become a dinosaur to which old school white men can relate, but basically nobody else. This is a massive roadblock for them, and you can be sure much analysis of that situation will be taking place shortly.
Congrats to both men on what was an exhausting (for them and us) and exciting campaign/election. It was a (more or less) fair fight, albeit a nasty, dirty one, but isn't that politics in 2012?! Spend billions, and focus not on real political issues or what you haven't achieved, focus rather on sleazy, negative attacks on the other guy. Why? Because it works! Who cares if it's dishonest or uncharitable or unethical, we want to win!
That is the kind of nonsense that we all were sick of in the end, and not least our little girl in the video above! Let's hope that she can wake up smiling this morning and feel as relieved as everyone else that this particular roadshow is over, for, ooh, at least another two years! ;) - Kevin Mc
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