Mercifully,
the elections are over. The "I voted" oval stickers are tucked away
in a precinct closet until the next election, and electronic voting gadgets are
carefully stored in a locked cabinet.
Victory
parties remain in full gloating mode, and those who lost are licking their
wounds, planning their strategy for a come-back run or looking for another line
of work.
Voters
are thrilled the 2012 elections have come to an end because we're no longer
bombarded with political telephone calls or trying to see a sea of past red,
white and blue cardboard signs crowded around every street corner.
We can
go back to watching television shows and complain about the number of insurance
and hair coloring ads instead of the number of negative political ads.
As much
as we gripe about all that aggravation, elections put money in somebody's
pocket, and those dollars help the economy. Newspapers and magazines were happy
to take candidates' money as were television stations, Websites, billboard
companies and sign makers.
Pollsters
were happy to cash checks for running fictitious scenarios so political action
committees could see where to spend their money.
Campaign
strategists used high-tech projection software and analyzed minute details from
electronic polling to tell their candidate what issue to talk about and where
to spend their time and money.
Email
and the Internet have been prime players in elections for the past few years. Email
blasts from friends and political groups filled our mailboxes. YouTube videos
used patriotic music and spliced together videos to make candidates look worse
than slimy geezers who take candy from babies.
This
time around, Facebook and Twitter became major players as people tweeted and
posted about candidates, battling and spreading lies, innuendoes, gossip and
slogans.
The presidential
debates struck me as which man could get the sharpest jab in. Forget answering
our questions about the economy, jobs, pollution and other issues that are tops
in our minds. The debates were simply opportunities for one-upmanship.
Now
it's all over. The airwaves are filled with pundits analyzing why Romney lost
and Obama won. We'll be looking at analyses and reports for weeks; and every
time a major election comes around, we'll endure experts rehashing and dissecting
this election and this campaign.
And
then the presidential campaign of 2016 will swing into gear as potential
candidates attempt to make their voice heard in the wilderness as the whole
process starts all over again.
A few
years ago, I remember seeing a young Bill Clinton and Al Gore standing on the
stage accepting the office of the presidency and vice presidency of the United
States.
I was
terrified, thinking we were turning the reins over to two green-behind-the-ears
guys who wouldn't have a clue how to run this country.
But like
their politics or not, the United States survived, just as we lived through sub-par
presidents like Zachary Taylor and Herbert Hoover.
We
survived Richard Nixon whose paranoia caused most Americans to lose faith in
the White House. We survived Andrew Johnson who mismanaged Reconstruction after
the Civil War.
We flourished
under presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who laid the groundwork
for the United States. We came to admire Abraham Lincoln who fought for
equality.
As Mitt
Romney said in his gracious concession speech, "I believe in America."
So do the millions of people who cast their vote in the 2012 election process.
For the
next four years, Mr. Obama is the president of the United States, the commander
in chief. No matter who you voted for, it's time to move forward. We Americans
do that quite well, and we'll survive or triumph, not only for the next four
years but for decades to come.
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