Obama vs Romney, the multi-billion dollar, largely insipid snooze fest of an election is almost over and the political infighting and domestic instability can continue apace again soon, whoever emerges victorious.
I am currently in DC, on my honeymoon no less (nothing says romance like Mitt Romney) and I had the great, great fortune to see Barack Obama and Bill Clinton stumping in the flesh at a Virginia rally the other day.
Shameless name dropping out of the way, here are some thoughts gleaned from the press, papers and people out here in the States in advance of later today:
The issues are very much secondary, tertiary or whatever the fancy word for 4th is. I’ve watched CNN, ABC, NBC and even Fox and there has been zero discussion surrounding the candidates’ policies and any differences therein. Zero. It’s all about polls, process and personalities to the extent that one can’t help but believe that intellectual bankruptcy will be the undoing of the US. Scotland and the UK looks veritably professorial by comparison.
Obama apparently has 186 electoral college votes in the bag, Romney has 170. These are from states that realistically are predictable before a vote is even cast. This increases to 243 vs 206 when ‘leaning’ states are included. Only the genuine toss ups of Colorado (9 elec college votes), Virginia (13), Ohio (18), Florida (29), Wisconsin (10), Iowa (6) and New Hampshire (4) are where the Presidency will be won and lost. Recent polling suggests that Florida is at least leaning Republican.
Romney really is a shambles. His oft-repeated stump speech is a desperate, disparate collection of one liners, shameless platitudes and rambling stories. One second he was talking about the American flag when he was a boy scout leader and the next he was asking the crowd to applaud the armed forces. Romneyshambles, but within the margin of error.
The level of mendacity in this election really is incredible, with the Republican camp largely responsible. Examples abound from Chrysler moving jobs to China (they aren’t), abortion (Roe vs Wade), planned parenthood and levels of education funding. Lies have poisoned this election process. It is, or at least should be, criminal.
The rest of the world is pretty much irrelevant to Americans at the moment. Fair enough in a way, it’s their election, but one would think that self-proclaimed leaders of the free world would want to consider external relations a bit more. Pro-Israel Americans will vote Romney who has occasionally mentioned China, but that’s it. Special relationship? Forget it.
A tie is not impossible, 269 college votes each. Two ways for this to happen are as follows:
– Obama wins Nevada, Virginia, New Hampshire and Colorado, with Romney taking Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin
– Romney to win Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia, and Obama to capture Ohio, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.
At the end of the day, with a House widely expected to be Republican controlled and the Senate Democrat controlled, the next President will be severely hamstrung at least in the first couple of years so one has to wonder what all the fuss is about.
Aside from elections being the greatest spectator sport in the world, of course.
But most of all, I’m with this girl.
#1 by Doug Daniel on November 6, 2012 - 4:05 pm
“Lies have poisoned this election process. It is, or at least should be, criminal.”
I’ve often wondered if we might finally get the media we deserve if it was made illegal to print things that turn out to be lies. We’d see the Daily Mail shut down within a month, for one thing. And wouldn’t the world be a much better place if Piers “Morgan” Moron had been put in the slammer for those infamous hoax Iraq photos?
(We could even extend that to politicians!)
“At the end of the day, with a House widely expected to be Republican controlled and the Senate Democrat controlled, the next President will be severely hamstrung at least in the first couple of years so one has to wonder what all the fuss is about.”
This is what is so bizarre about Presidential Democracy. A president should be a figurehead, nothing more. Power should be in the hands of a bunch of elected representatives, not one person who then hand picks their team from an unelected pool. The way Obama’s healthcare reforms were nobbled by a Republican Senate highlights why competing powerbases just leads to a stalemate. People should vote on a policy programme, and then let the winner(s) work on it throughout the term.
Electing the Senate a third at a time is daft as well…
#2 by Allan on November 6, 2012 - 7:20 pm
Well, in theory “Moron” should have been charged with insider tradeing thanks to the “City Slickers” scandal, but he managed to dodge that bullet (to the chagrin of messers Bhoyrul and Hipwell who were convicetd of share tiping). Still there’s always phone hacking…
#3 by Angus McLellan on November 7, 2012 - 11:37 pm
How nice to see Doug Daniel telling the Americans how democracy should be done. They’re sure to sit up and listen to people who put up with a hereditary head of state. And, let’s not forget, a second chamber that has had heredity, bribery and sycophancy as the bases for membership. Before we start worrying about the Americans, I think we should worry about ourselves.