Why So Close?

(Election Day)

The 2012 presidential election is today and all polls indicate an extremely close race. Taking all the facts reported over the last 12 months into consideration, I'm left with a puzzling look on my face wondering why the race is so close. Maybe the polls are misleading. Maybe the polls are not taking some important variables into account. I know that I have never been polled. Nevertheless, I will have my answer to the accuracy of the polls by midnight tonight.

For now, I'm going to assume the polls are correct and the race is indeed "up in the air." With that said, I'm left wondering what goes on in the mind of a voter prior to making a decision on Election Day. Do voters seriously take into account policies that will actually hurt or benefit them or do they just vote for the person with an "R" or a "D" beside their name. I believe that "all of the above" is the correct answer. But, something else is definitely at play in this particular election compared to previous ones. I'll touch on that later. What I will say upfront is that many voters want to have it both ways and I'll explain why I say that.

WEDGE ISSUES AND ONE ISSUE VOTERS

Some voters have decided to give their vote based on one issue. They don't care about anything else but just one issue. A term given for a make or break issue is sometimes called a "wedge issue."

One of the more popular wedge issues is same sex marriage. People rely on their own belief system when making a decision on this issue. For many, religion makes the decision for them. These voters simply can't bring themselves to support a candidate that does not take a firm stance against same sex marriage. Those voters don't care what the opposing candidate thinks about foreign policy, civil rights, the environment, or any other issue.

Another popular wedge issue is abortion. Many voters will vote for the "anti-choice" candidate no matter what their take is on any other issue. The thing that confuses me the most is that many of the anti-choice voters are against welfare programs that feed small children, when the parents can't afford it by themselves. Many of those same voters agree with the death penalty. Let me get this straight. These anti-choice voters only seem to care about a person (if you want to call a fetus a person) up until it is born. After that, they don't want their tax dollars to go toward feeding or educating the child.

People complain about not wanting to pay more taxes, but, if abortion were to become illegal like it once was, the population would increase at a faster rate than it currently is. The need for more tax dollars to educate and house unwanted children will become immense. So, these same people that hate paying taxes are actually for a proposal that will, no doubt, increase their tax liability. You can't have it both ways. Not to mention the fact that may woman would die from seeking alternate illegal means to aborting a fetus. This is what happened prior to the Supreme Court decision on "Roe v. Wade".

INTERNET AND LOW INFORMATION VOTERS

We now live in a society where anyone with a lap top and an Internet connection can report what is perceived as news. The first amendment allows citizens to post any and all thoughts online regardless of accuracy or lack of factual information. Low Information Voters read blogs and other opinion pieces online and take it in as fact. Are they simply not familiar with the amendment that allows people to post factually incorrect information online, or are they only interested in believing posts that confirm what they already believe to be the truth? I think it's a combination of both. The low information voter can see one television commercial or hear a radio advertisement supporting a particular candidate and be swayed in one direction or the other. They simply don't believe in fact checking or confirmations.

Elections are a very important part of our society. Shouldn't a person's vote warrant due diligence for such an important decision. Most rational people do a little homework before making huge financial commitments or life altering decisions. When was the last time you heard someone base a decision to marry another individual from word of mouth without taking the time to learn as much as they can about the person? It just doesn't happen. The same level of investigation should go into a person's vote.

NOT MY TAX DOLLARS TO SUPPORT WELFARE

I listen to many callers on radio shows shouting about how they hate the fact that the majority of their tax dollars go toward social welfare programs (food and housing). The funny thing is when they use the term "welfare" they really believe that over half of their tax dollars support social welfare programs for the poor. This could not be farther from the truth. When Bush 43 took office in 2001, the percentage of federal tax dollars going toward social welfare programs was about 2%. The truth is the bulk of federal tax dollars are spent on Medicare, Medicaid, and Defense. The amount of waste that goes into defense will blow most people's minds. The U. S. spends more on defense than the next top 16 nations combined.

While we are on the subject of welfare and defense, the Department of Defense contracts out a large portion of the defense budget to private corporations. They don't do the job cheaper, but they have strong lobbyists in Washington to keep the funding coming in. So, there is such a thing as military welfare, but you never hear the people complaining about welfare mention defense. Why? I'm not even going to mention the subsidies for one of the most profitable industries in the country, OIL. No abundance of outrage is ever given to spending large amounts of tax dollars on bombs that blow up hospitals and schools in foreign countries. Even though, additional tax dollars are spent to rebuild those same hospitals and schools later. American gets nothing from that cycle of events. I'd rather see a tax dollar fund a social welfare program simply because it stimulates the U.S. economy. When people get assistance to buy food, they spend it in American businesses, which promote Americans having employment. Employed Americans pay at a bare minimum state and local taxes. This stimulates the economy and everyone benefits. Who benefits from the bomb outside of the bomb makers and the private companies that get the "no bid" contracts to rebuild the hospitals and schools.

Bottom line, America has the most powerful military the world has ever seen and no "country" has the brass to attack the U.S. We can do with a little less nation building in foreign lands and start some nation building at home in the U.S.

WAR ON WOMEN

With all the anti-women antics that have taken place over the last 3 years, how can any female support the side responsible for those antics? Congress has produced a record number of anti-choice legislation over the last 3 years. Many politicians on one side of the spectrum did not support a bill that encouraged women to get equal pay for equal work. I don't even know how to bring up the clowns that claim "if a woman is legitimately raped the body will shut the pregnancy process down." How stupid can you be? Oh wait, there's more. Another genius said "if a woman is raped and gets pregnant, it's part of God's plan." I am not making this up. The list goes on and on. People can vote however they choose, but I just don't understand this one. What really pisses me off is the fact that you have so many men writing legislation that only affects woman. Why isn't there more outrage over that little bit of information?

VOTER SUPPRESSION

When I first heard about the states instituting voter suppression laws, I immediately ran to find someone and ask them what year it was. They said it was 2012. I said are you sure it's not 1955? I haven't heard of people trying to discourage people from voting since that era. What is really going on?

One of the techniques used to reduce voter turnout was to reduce early voting days and hours. When first learning of this, I said fine. At least this affects everyone. Then I learned that some states were doing this only in counties that vote heavily democratic. The republican voting counties continued on with regular voting dates and hours like they had done for years. Wow!

WHAT DO AN ECONOMY AND AN ECOSYSTEM HAVE IN COMMON?

After thinking long and hard about what it means to live in America, I have come to some very surprising conclusions about myself. Before I take you through the evolution of my thought process, let me give you my take on how the U. S. Economy works. The simplest example is the ecosystem. You can look up the definition of an ecosystem, but in short, it represents the circle of life. For example, plants, including human food sources, are allowed to grow from nutrients living in the soil. Some small animals eat those plants for food. Some large animals eat those smaller animals for food and redeposit the soil with nutrients through normal body function, death, or other methods, which allow the plants to continue to grow. It is the circle of life, so to speak.

This example of an ecosystem basically outlines how an economy works. People with an abundance of resources have to rely on those who don't and vice versa. How so? A person with an abundance of money just simply doesn't want to live off of that money. That person wants to use that money to make more money. How do they do it? There are several pathways to increase wealth, but one popular method is to invest it into companies. The companies take those investment dollars and use them to grow revenues for the company. As the company grows revenues, the investor receives a return on their investment. How do the people that don't have an abundance of resources benefit? The company that grows the revenues hires employees. Those employees earn a wage. The employees take those wages and go purchase items from other business and so on and so on. The process duplicates itself every day, just like an ecosystem. This is a very simple example of how those with an abundance of resources need those who don't and those who don't have an abundance of resources need those who do.

The point is that everyone is in it together. I realized this several years ago when I went to work for a company that gave out bonuses to employees based on the financial performance of the company. I had a rude awakening when I received my first bonus check and saw that it was taxed at a higher percentage than my wages. I didn't understand it at first until I thought about all the things my tax dollars pay for. For example tax dollars pay for the military, roads, social security, environmental protection, and many other things that keep all Americans safe and secure and make sure the economy continues to function. My tax dollars pay for the things that benefit society as a whole. Keeping my whole bonus check would have been better for me as an individual. The point I had to realize is that what's best for the country as a whole may not "always" be what's best for me as an individual. If the ecosystem fails, everyone suffers in the end. One can't exist without the other.

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE

It is one thing to change your mind about something over time, but to completely go in a different direction in only a day or two, or a few hours. Some might just call that lying. During the election Romney was highly criticized for reversing his opinions on important issues time and time again. When he was asked about it, he would simply ignore the question at times. How can someone vote for someone when they can't believe anything that comes out of the person's mouth? I just don't understand it. The only conclusion is that a large number of voters would rather have a liar leading the free world over the current president. Is something else at play here?

SHORT TERM MEMORY

Do Americans have a short term memory? One administration is promoting policies that turned the U. S. economy upside down, while the other has had 32 consecutive months of positive job growth. Has he done it fast enough to please everyone? No. Does that say more about the current person leading or the magnitude of the problem generated by the previous administration? Why would anyone want to go back to policies that have been proven to fail? Is something else at play here?

(Five days after the election)

IS RACE AT PLAY IN THIS ELECTION?

I wanted to wait until after the election to write about the role of race in the 2012 presidential election. The amount of racist, hate filled comments posted online since the election has given me my answer. I know that ALL people are not represented by the actions of a few, so I won't comment heavily on those idiots that choose hate over unity.

What I will comment on is one party's inability to deny those hate filled individuals a place at their table. When you see people walking around at campaign rallies proudly wearing shirts saying "PUT THE WHITE BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE," what other conclusions can be drawn? It is painfully obvious that the racial division instituted by post-civil war leaders is alive and well, even though those leaders are not.

I am encouraged by the results of the election. The statistics continue to show the number of hate filled individuals are dwindling and dying out, which is good for America. I won't live to see it, but there will come a day when their voice has been completely silenced.

PLUTOCRATS

Racism is dying a slow death. It is being replaced by a less familiar term known as classism. We are no longer divided by race. We are only divided by those who have and those who don't have. The problem today is that the racists haven't figured that out yet and continue to fight the good fight from 60 years ago.

I don't have a problem with people being wealthy. We all want to be financially secure in life. What I simply disagree with is the fact that wealthy individuals use power and influence to give themselves an unfair advantage over the rest of society. For example, getting politicians to lower their tax rates and theirs alone, why should a person making $40K per year pay a higher tax rate than someone making $40M per year?

The wealthy person should at least pay the same rate if not more. The wealthy person knows that they are financially stable because of the millions of Americans making substantially less than they do, but apparently they don't care. They want more money so they can buy more power and therefore buy more stuff. If I become a wealthy person one day, I won't forget how I came upon that wealth. I won't forget that I am a part of a much bigger machine that must continue to operate for the good of all.

CONCLUSION

Obama won re-election on November 6, 2012. There were enough American voters to see through the amount of BS being shelled out by the big money PACs (Political Action Committees). I still am discouraged that the race was so close, but encouraged by the popular vote margin in Obama's favor. The GOP needs to take the results of this election and begin promoting policies that benefit society as a whole, instead of, favoring one side. If they don’t learn from this election, they will continue to lose. Voter Suppression and catering to racist agenda's won't lead the country forward. They are both tools of the past and have no place in an evolving U.S. culture. The GOP claims to be the party that promotes business. They should take a lesson from the business world. Do you see any companies that have been around over 70 years still operating their business the same as when they started? There's a reason for that. Those ideas no longer work.

Opinions come from life experiences and the people that influence us while traveling through life. If you've never been poor, you can't relate to the problems of a rich person. If you've never been wealthy, you can't relate….wait a minute….what am I talking about? What problems do wealthy people have? They get the best education, best health care, and never have to worry about paying expenses or where their next meal is going to come from. Yes wealthy people live in a bubble isolated from the average person.

What moves voters toward one candidate or the other? Everything under the sun, it's just that complicated and that's why the election was so close.