Wednesday, November 7, 2012

What if it went the other way?

It is the day after.  Finally.  Mitt Romney finally conceded last night and the election is over.  Reading some of the social media postings this morning, some are happy, others are not.  The postings of the despondent all resonate the same... the end is near, stock up on weapons and ammo now, and some are even blaming god or praying to god for help.  Well here is the deal... All of the same rhetoric almost verbatim was launched four years ago after the election and did anything dire happen then?  No.  We are all still here.  Just as we would be if the Republicans won the White House.  Life would continue to go on.

I have learned a lot this election both as a Republican AND an American.  I have learned a lot about myself as a result.

But as a Republican I have to say that the party failed and failed miserably to put forth a viable candidate.  Mitt Romney at least to me was completely unrelateable.  I never felt the connection.  Even months ago if I were working or downstairs and had the TV on and if he would be on a show, or begin to speak I would automatically mute it.  His voice, opinions and ideals always made me shut down.

My buddy William who I would say is a solid liberal yet reasonable and fair often just said that he didn't trust Romney.  But the one thing that William said over and over to me is that Mitt Romney has never said really, "why" he wants to be president.  I think he was right.

This point may seem sort of abstract and random but give a second and I will tie it all together....  So last night Melissa and I are sitting and watching the results come in and she informs me that Mitt Romney originally didn't want to run for president, that it was actually his wife who pushed him in that direction.  Well that sort of clicked and made some sense but I had yet to connect the dots until later, after Romney's concession speech.

When Mitt Romney and his family were leaving the stage after the concession speech, I saw two things... Romney with a relieved and almost relaxed look on his face ( a first) and his wife, who was obviously upset and in turn looked like SHE was the one who lost.

So this is my thought... Putting the three points together, I don't think that Mitt Romney really truly wanted to be President.  He was pushed in that direction but I don't think that his heart was in it and I don't believe he was truly passionate about winning.  And that is why I think that I never felt any affinity towards him as a candidate.  Let me reiterate... PURE SPECULATION on my part....

The other thing I learned was this... when they were showing the crowds in Boston waiting for Romney to come out and speak, I noticed that seriously... there was not one single non-white, everyday looking person in that crowd.  Seriously.... And I couldn't help that when I saw that but to think, "that isn't  America."

Then they showed the crowds in Chicago... I think that was more realistic and if I were given the choice of  a place to be last night between the two, I would have definitely chosen Chicago.

Of course all of my observations could be way off base.  I am not a political analyst, not by a long shot.

It is over... the market is adjusting and I am sure that will be blamed on the current administration as well.   But as one trader said, "If you didn't think that President Obama had a better than average chance of winning then you shouldn't be handling anyone's money anyway."




3 comments:

  1. I've often asked people what happened to that pro-business, socially-moderate, pro-environment, pro-health care reform guy that was governor of Massachusetts. Had that guy run for president, things might have turned out different...maybe.

    My beef with Romney was one couldn't tell who he was. He changed so many of his positions leading up to and over the course of the election, he ended up seeming to be without core values...rudderless. In my book, that was his ultimate undoing.

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  2. I believe your story is backwards. Mitt wanted to run for president, his wife had to be convinced to let him. BUT HEY, REPUBLICAN, DON'T LET THE FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY! Notice the all caps of that last sentence. Boom.

    http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/10/18/mitt-romney-will-not-run-again-campaign-falls-short-wife-says/TY4y7KS2thg74jqqhMO8ZK/story.html

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  3. Interesting observations that I hadn't heard before. Maybe I need a bigger TV to see facial detail. Heh.

    I agree with Jim that Romney couldn't tell who he was. For libertarians Mass. health care was a disaster, and for Latinos, GLBT folks, and some women his policies and those of the GOP overall are awful. That's a lot of support to forgo in an election.

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