Election Wrap-Up

So the election is finally over and the ballots have been tallied. President Barack Obama will serve a second term as president. Now that the election's over I'll tell you that I voted for Mitt Romney. My reasoning definitely wasn't because we belong to the same religion, but because I think he was more fit for the job. I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and I had high hopes for him, but I don't feel like he was as successful as I was hoping he would be and I was left disappointed. That's why I decided to vote for Mitt Romney this time around. I just had more confidence in Mitt Romney's ability to turn things around as far as the economy is concerned than I do in President Obama.

I thought it was interesting to watch the crowds that gathered in Chicago and New York in favor of Obama. When it was announced that he'd won the election the crowds cheered and partied late into the night. There were balloons and confetti… it seriously reminded me of New Year's Eve in Times Square!

I have a few thoughts about the election… I think that race and religion had a lot more to do with this election than they should've. It's crazy to vote for someone because of the color of someone's skin or the religion that they practice. That shouldn't have anything to do with whether or not they would be a good leader. What matters is if they are a good, honest man. I can't help but wonder if a lot of people did or didn't vote for Obama because of his race, or if they did or didn't vote for Romney because of his religion. According to NPR, 93% of African-American people voted for Obama. Wow! I knew that the percentage of black voters that voted for Obama would be high, but I didn't think it would be that high!

I know I said that I voted for Romney, but it wasn't because of his religion. It was because of my belief that he would do a better job at president than Obama would. I wonder if the outcome of the election would've been any different if Obama were white or if Romney were Lutheran or Methodist (and if they both still had the exact same record/policies/beliefs). Of course there's no way to know, but it's interesting to speculate about.

When I was a kid I liked to read choose your own adventure books. Do you remember those? They are the kind of books where the story stops at a fork in the road and if you want scenario A to happen you turn to a certain page and if you want scenario B to happen you turn to a different page. Wouldn't it be interesting if life were a choose your own adventure book and we could read it one way to see how the story (a.k.a. the next four years) would go with Obama as president, or how things would go with Romney as president? That way we could read about both scenarios, compare them and then decide which scenario was more favorable in the end. Of course life isn't a choose your own adventure book, but it sure would be interesting if it were!

So what will the state of our country be in four more years? I sincerely hope that things have turned the corner and started to get a little better, but I have serious doubts. I have my sneaking suspicions that the government will continue getting worse just as a sign of the times. I hope that's not the case, but I'm mentally preparing myself for that. Regardless of who is president, compromise is key, and I think both Republicans and Democrats need to do a much better job of compromising and not being so rigid and unyielding so that they can come together for the good of the country.