Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Not So Close Afterall

Everything I heard from both sides of the media was a paraphrase of: It is going to be a close race. 

First: It wasn't a close race. Second: I was wrong. Third: Many people were far more wrong than I was. 

Barack Obama was re-elected in a crushing mandate of a victory. The momentum Fox News promised for Romney did not appear. The Undecided voters Fox News promised would vote against the incumbent did not vote against the incumbent. Women and Latinos did not vote "for the economy" instead of "for their rights." The youth vote showed up. And hard-working, middle class white folks came out against Romney. Almost everything I heard Carl Rove say for the past week was absolutely wrong. (Despite his Ross Perot-esque attempts to explain his version of voodoo political math where uncounted ballots from urban minority districts were somehow going to turn the tide in Romney's favor in Ohio.) 

However, I'd like to openly confess my predictions were wrong. I predicted Romney would take FL, NC, and VA. In fact, he did not take VA and it looks like he may not take FL. He  is only the clear winner in NC. 

I was also wrong about the popular vote. That wasn't close, either. I predicted 0.05% - 0.08% for Obama. The counting won't be complete for a while, but the media is predicting it could be as much as 1.5% for Obama.

Despite the explosive outcries of "No!" and a myriad of tears at his headquarters when Fox News called the election for Obama, Mitt Romney had a gracious concession speech. He challenged his supporters to pray for the President, pray for the country, and work with their opponents to cross the divide in order to help restore the county. 

I propose we all line up, give each other high fives, and say: Good game. Regardless of which team won, it was a good game. 

Now let's clean up and go home!

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