Sitting here on this morning after the 2012 Presidential
election, feeling mostly deflated more than anything else, I would like to
extend my congratulations to President Barack Obama, on his reelection.
Although I didn't vote for Mr. Obama, either time as a matter of fact (I'll get
to that in a moment), I will point out that, as our duly elected President and
leader of our nation, he is deserving of our respect and support.
We don't have to agree with him, and certainly it is our
right, indeed our duty, to disagree strenuously at times with whatever
proposals and agenda he sees fit to put forth before the citizens of our
nation.
But always, always, it is incumbent upon us to do so with
respect and dignity, for his office, and for ourselves.
The 2012 Presidential race seems like the longest I have
ever witnessed, and the most distressing. (The most expensive as well.) While
politics, especially Presidential politics, is not for the faint of heart, this
election has to have been one of the most gut-wrenching, unpleasant contests in
the history of our country.
How long has Mitt Romney been running? It seems like
forever.
I first voted for a candidate for President in 1972; I was
just 21, and armed with a brand-new voter card from my home state of Illinois.
I voted for Richard Nixon, because even at that tender age, being
possessed of little political savvy and, like so many then, the
"liberalness" of the times, something about George McGovern's
candidacy just didn't ring true with me.
Thus started my lengthy history of voting for Republican
candidates for the highest office in America.
Nixon in '72, Ford in '76, Reagan both in '80 and '84, Bush
I in '88 and '92, Dole in '96, Bush II in 2000 and John McCain in 2008. Yes, I
skipped '04, which was the only break in that long history of GOP loyalty; I
could not abide with another four years of that horror George W. Bush again,
went off into a major revolt and voted for John Kerry.
The above momentary glitch of '04 notwithstanding, I think
you could safely say I have been a loyal Republican all my adult life. Even in
most local and state races, typically I voted for the GOP candidate as the
person who most embodied the principles of small government, fiscal
responsibility and a strong military presence in an increasingly unstable
world.
These were all things I believed in deeply. And still do.
Several days before this most recent election, one of my
Facebook friends posted a wonderful essay written by, interestingly, Charlie
Daniels of the rock/country group The Charlie Daniels Band (clever name,
what?). In it, Mr. Daniels espoused voting for a candidate that supported all
those values I mentioned above, those of keeping government out of our lives,
one that spends our tax dollars wisely and not profligately, a government that
believes in having the best equipped, best trained and most capable armed
services in the world and that believes in a moral fiber that often times seems
lacking in our 21st century society. Although Mr. Daniels didn't endorse a
specific candidate, it was clear of whom, on both sides, he was speaking.
Right on, Charlie, you nailed it, buddy, and I couldn't
agree with you more. America, now more than ever it would seem, needs that kind
of leader.
The problem was, for all Americans, that kind of leader
wasn't running for President this year, from either party.
I did not vote for Mr. Obama, although I was tempted to do
so; I still don't believe he has been an effective President nor that he has kept a
number of the promises he made when elected back in '08, and I just could not
support the man, although in truth, he should be credited for a number of his
accomplishments, certainly in the area of foreign policy, where I believe he
has been a creditable leader.
I again broke my long history of GOP fealty, reluctantly,
and voted for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate; Mr. Johnson had a number
of views that I agreed with, many of them similar to the positions that
Republicans used to take, not the least of which were fiscal responsibility,
immigration reform and the legalization of marijuana.
Those were the minor did/did not vote for's for this election; the
MAJOR "I did not vote for..." was my non-support of the Republican
candidate, Mitt Romney.
I wouldn't have voted for Mitt Romney if you had placed a
gun to my head.
I sincerely believe that Mr. Romney is a good and decent
man, just a lousy politician.
Mitt is a Mormon, a flip-flopper, unsympathetic to the
working-man and, if his lack of ability to articulate his programs was any
indication, clueless about Washington, D.C. governance. Further, I suspect,
given his toadying to the Tea Party element in his party, he would have been
utterly incapable of "reaching across the aisle" to govern from the
middle, as is so desperately needed in this country today. This is all
redundant and irrelevant now.
But therein lies the betrayal I feel that comes from the
Republican Party towards so many of us "moderate Republicans"; sadly,
he was the best the GOP had to offer.
The party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald
Reagan could field no more competent representative than Mitt Romney, who
frankly, looked utterly Presidential when compared to his primary opponents.
To wit:
Rick Santorum, who could not understand the separation of
church and state; I admire him for his faith, but reject his stiff-necked,
unyielding approach to so many of our social issues.
Michelle Bachmann, crazy. Period.
Rick Perry, almost as crazy as Bachmann, and totally
clueless, even to being unable to name the several Federal agencies that he
wanted to eliminate.
Newt Gingrich, all of the above, with arrogance on the side,
which was particularly galling from a man who had been married and divorced
what, fifteen or twenty times?
Herman Cain, also crazy.
Jon Huntsman, the only one of the bunch with any good sense
and decent credentials, who got buried in the hue and outcry of the Tea Party
geniuses.
This, this is the best my party had to offer me as
candidates for the leader of the free world? The GOP couldn't come up with ANYONE
else with a better pedigree and resume than these clowns?
And you wonder why I feel betrayed by my party? To say I'm
disappointed would be the understatement of the decade.
I considered leaving the space for my vote for President
blank, and just voting in the various other races and for/against the multitude
of Propositions California voters have to wend their way through each election
cycle. But I couldn't.
So I gave my vote to a man that, while what I read about Mr.
Johnson led me to believe in his basic sincerity and honesty, had about as much
chance of winning the election as an ice cube in Hell. Granted, a candidate's
chances of winning really shouldn't be a factor in someone supporting them, but
come on, we weren't talking Ross Perot or John Anderson here. (Bet you hadn't
even heard of Gary Johnson until you read this, had you?)
I make it a point not to write about politics on my blog;
it's often too polarizing, and I would rather not offend my readers (all three
of them). But I had to talk about this.
Because the betrayal I feel this morning, November 7th,
2012, isn't as much political as it is personal; the Republicans owe me better
than this. After all these years of loyalty, yeah, they owe me better.
Okay, I'm done, it's off my chest. I will make one last
comment here, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to vent.
If the GOP doesn't find a way to move to more moderate
positions over the course of the next few years, without sacrificing their core beliefs, if they can't find a leader
to head up a national reevaluation of Party positions, such as Bill Clinton did for the Democrats
back in '92, if they can't find a way to reject the ultra-right, over-the-top
Tea Partiers, then all loyal Republicans, like myself, can look forward to
election after election of under-qualified, conservative wingnuts that have
little or no chance of being elected President.
Thanks a lot, GOP, for nothing; Ron Reagan has to be
spinning in his grave.
Love and ballots,
PJTT
copyright 2012 Krissongs Inc.
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