While the rest of us worry about the sudden onset of cold temperatures and question the Florida’s worthiness as the Sunshine State, political pollsters are getting anxious as the final days before “the day” are finally upon us (by this time, I believe we are officially under the 100-hour mark).
It has without a doubt been an extremely amusing election season, but overall, I think we all just found it to be extremely frustrating.
We started back in 2011 with the Republican primary and watched the conservatives scramble for a candidate with the spunk to challenge President Barack Obama.
It didn’t go well. You may have forgotten the extensive list of characters that appeared on stage for the no less than 20 primary debates, but does Bachmann ring a bell? How about Gingrich? That’s right, the moonbase guy. One of my favorite headlines of the primaries was “Gingrich Space Plan Promises the Moon, Literally,” coming from Space.com.
Than there was Bachmann, whose televised claim that the Gardasil vaccine could cause recipients to become mentally retarded prompted the headline “Bioethicist Offers $10,000 Reward For Proof of Bachmann Vaccine Claims” from Forbes as well as “The Vilification of a Vaccine,” courtesy of The Huffington Post.
We saw Herman Cain lose his (some might say surprising) lead back in October of 2011 when those skeletons of past relationships he probably thought nobody would notice came out of the closet to haunt him; “Cain Denounces Witch Hunt, Denies Sex Harassment,” reported Reuters.
And let’s not forget good old Rick Perry. The poor guy actually made some of my favorite ad campaigns. You may laugh, but his “Proven Leadership” ad makes one wonder who was really doing the dramatic voiceovers and why that guy wasn’t running for president. Unfortunately, his minor episode of completely forgetting a third of his three-part economic plan might have put him back a bit, described later in an Reuters piece entitled “Analysis: Perry crashes on the big 2012 stage.” Take note that “oops” is never a good saying if you plan on running for president one day.
Ultimately, the primaries came down to Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, who for two men in the same party differed on just about every issue. Romney says he views military action as a last resort, whereas Santorum appeared to justify the bombing of Iran as a preventative measure. Santorum also eliminate corporate taxes for manufacturing to jumpstart the American economy and bring back blue-collar jobs, while Romney simply wants to eliminate some tax cuts and cut taxes by an undisclosed amount.
But by the start of the new year (one forgets how long the process really is) it seemed clear that 2012 would be all about incumbent Obama versus second-time-around Romney, who finally succeeded in gaining his party’s nomination this summer.
After both parties had their party conventions – wrought with plenty of jeers and unnecessary comments, along with one very special empty chair: “Clint Eastwood Eschews Chair, Supports Mitt Romney in New Ad,” was even seen in The Hollywood Gossip.
The headline “Eastwood Says his Convention Appearance was 'Mission Accomplished'” appeared in the movie star’s hometown paper soon after.
Then the remaining two jokesters… I mean, presidential candidates, got down to business. One moment, there was the threat of “violence” as “Tagg Romney Jokes About Taking A 'Swing' At Obama After Heated Debate” in The Huffington Post and an exchange of nicknames as seen in articles such as “Obama’s ‘Romnesia’ Remedy” in The Star-Ledger and perhaps there was even a hint of “Obamaloney;” the feud was summarized by The Huffington Post as “Romney Hood vs. Obamaloney: A Bare-Knuckled Brawl for the Ages.”
Last week, we all shook our heads a little as CNN announced “Obama: The 'other guy' is a 'bulls***ter.’”
All in all, let’s not forget that come Nov. 6 we will all be casting our votes for the man we each believe will best lead our country. While they both engage in plenty of politicizing, it is their issues – Romney the conservative Republican promising to create 12 million jobs, focused on privatizing health care and reducing individual income tax rates, or incumbent Obama the liberal Democrat, looking to pass his $447 billion American Jobs Act while also requiring medical insurance and seeking to place it in a semi-public sphere – that will decide the race.
