WELL, WELL, WELL

So personally I think the entire country heaved a collective sigh of relief that the 2012 election is over, even though slightly less than half the country was inevitably disappointed.  As for us, our relief was mixed with tears of joy; we genuinely respect and admire Mr. Obama and simply cannot say the same for Mr. Romney.

What is so very interesting for us is that such incredible amounts of money were poured into this race and the Republicans still could not manage to buy enough votes.  That is, of course, a crude way of putting it, but what else was all that money from a relative few donors trying to do?  $100 million dollars from Sheldon Adelson?   Really?

Here are the other mistakes we feel the Republican machine made:

-the inability to create original slogans and themes for ads; everything was a reaction to what some Democratic candidate, usually the President, said, taken out of context and twisted for ideological purposes.  Really, that was the best they could do?  Lie?

-the extreme and concerted efforts to suppress voter registration and voting in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other locations.  It isn’t very bright not to realize that at least some of the voters and votes they suppressed just might be Republican.  Really.

-refusing to understand the need for immigration reform and refusing to support the Dream Act, while asking Hispanic voters for support.   Good grief.

-holding fast to the notion that social issues did not matter in this election, only economic issues, and thereby refusing to realize that same-sex marriage, women’s right to birth control, immigration reform, medical insurance, Social Security and Medicare, and fair taxation ARE economic issues.

-allowing surrogates such as Ted Nugent, Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, Rupert Murdoch and his Fox News folks, Karl Rove, among others, to attack the President, Chris Christie, Sandra Fluke, etc., and not refuting all those idiotic ‘birther’ attacks and all the other attacks.  And let us not forget the famous ‘47% speech’ from Romney’s mouth.

-not having an agenda other than to undo any and all of Mr. Obama’s administration’s accomplishments.  If we heard it once, we heard it a hundred times:  “On my first day in office, I will eliminate (name any or all Obama accomplishments).”

-finally, not realizing that at its heart, the Republican campaign was racist to that heart, beginning with Mitch McConnell’s vow the day after Inauguration Day, 2009, to make Obama a one-term president.    As a very mature Caucasian, I resented that because I am an American.  We have serious problems in this country.  We need serious leaders.  We have one still.  Let’s support him.