Election Notes 2012

Notes to Democrats

You do NOT have a mandate – You won by a far smaller margin in the popular vote than in 2008 (7% vs. 2%, at latest count). You barely cleared 50% of the popular vote. That is not a mandate; it’s a squeaker.

What will be your excuse now? – Every time you were questioned about where the “change” was, you blamed it on the obstructionist Congress. While they indeed share the blame, they’re still there. The composition of the Congress has not changed significantly. Please explain to me using nothing but logic and common sense how things will be different now. NOTE: If you tell me Obama couldn’t be bold in term one because it would have hurt his chance at re-election, then you’ve told me everything I need to know about the man and his priorities. Between now and when we reach the “fiscal cliff”, the President might want to read up on people like Bill Clinton and Lyndon Johnson…you know, people who actually knew how to get things done. He might also try to develop a backbone.

Notes to Republicans

Dump your leadership – McConnell, Boehner and Cantor have gotten you nowhere.

Ignore the fringe – Democrats don’t have to run to the fringe during their primary process. You continue to do so, leaving Democrats with an arsenal full of sound bites that keep getting you creamed in general elections. Those people are not going to vote for the Democrats in a general election, and simply make you look crazy.

Stop with the Bible-thumping – This is another aspect of your party that gets you nowhere, and many of us are sick and tired of it.

Amend your vocabulary – Don’t ever say the word “rape” again…ever.

Immigrants – They’re here…get over it. If you keep alienating them, you will keep losing.

Misogyny – Stop it. Just stop it. I’m a man, and I find it completely offensive.

Demographics – Start trying to learn something about it.

Note to Linda McMahon

Please go away…FOREVER

My Vote Is NEVER Wasted

It is Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 6:15 A.M., and I have just returned from casting my ballot for Gary Johnson for President. I am filled with joy. I feel this not just because I voted for candidate whose views most closely match mine, but rather because I was mindful of, and thankful for, a most sacred right – a right many in this world may never have.

I have written before in these pages that the foundation of our government - what sets us apart – is that ours is based on the concept, established in our Constitution, of “consent of the governed”. As citizens, we give that consent via the ballot box. I gave my consent this morning, and I did so by voting for someone, and not against someone. I have many friends who tell me I wasted my vote. While I understand that Mr. Johnson will not be elected, these friends don’t seem to understand the larger point. Friends on the left tell me I may help elect Mitt Romney. I had one friend, channeling Bill Maher, accuse me of Naderism (NOTE: Ralph Nader did not cost Al Gore the election – Al Gore did that to himself by running a horrible campaign and making the mind-numbing decision to distance himself from Bill Clinton). Friends on the right tell me that voting for Johnson means I’m helping Barack Obama win re-election. This line of thinking is short-sighted Kool-Aid drinking, and is exactly the sort of thinking that keeps us locked in a two-party system where the Democratic Party is increasingly indistinguishable from the Republican Party when it lies to us about war and consistently infringes on our civil liberties.

If I am traveling in the middle of nowhere and my only meal options are McDonalds and Burger King, I am willing to choose between the lesser of two evils. I will never accept that in the voting booth. This morning, I voted with my conscience. In the words of one of my favorite philosophers, Vito Corleone, “for that I don’t apologize”. A vote made with one’s conscience is never a wasted vote.