White House Retains its First Black Tenet for Four More Years

Sometime around 11:22 P.M. on election day Obama was projected to win Ohio, a crucial swing state, clinching the necessary 270 electoral votes needed to retain his presidency. More importantly, for my Maryland readers, here are the results of some important ballot questions:

Question 3 Passed: Also dubbed the Jack Johnson rule, if an elected official is convicted of a felony they can be impeached.

Question 4 Passed: Giving undocumented students instate tuition if they attend a Maryland college.

Question 5 Passed: Redistricting Maryland for its eight representatives. Also known as gerrymandering.

Question 6 Passed: Maryland's gay marriage question was put to a public vote, which has not passed in any other state.

Question 7 Passed: Allowing a casino to be built in the national harbor.

All of Maryland's representatives in the House and Senate were re-elected, minus congressman Roscoe Bartlett who was defeated by John Delaney.

Interestingly, after the 6 billion dollars spent on this election nothing changed. Democrats remained in control of the white house and senate while republicans maintained control of the house. This is solid evidence supporting a previous article I wrote called Indecision 2012: Why Campaigning is Stupid.  The money had so many other good uses but instead went to supporting a downright wasteful campaign. Just another showing of why we are where we are economically.

Why did Romney lose? To me he lost because he was out of touch with most American voters. Key things Romney said at one point or another simply lingered in the minds of voters and haunted him on election day. Lets take a look. (These are in no specific order)

1. If you can't afford college you should borrow from your parents
Really? Kids around the world are applying for financial aid, government grants, and student loans all to finance the cost of a higher education. I wouldn't be going through all the paperwork if my parents had two hundred grand laying around and neither would anyone else. Here Romney shows that his money has distanced him from the financial woes of most middle class American families.

2. 47% of Americans
In a private speech to some rather wealthy donors Romney claimed that 47% of Americans would vote for Obama regardless because they are dependent on the government and that they believe they are entitled to food, healthcare, and housing I'm no campaign manager, but insulting almost half the country's voters in order to gain some campaign dollars isn't going to win any elections. Any pre-schooler could tell you that. These people are on welfare because they can't find a job or they're disabled or they're veterans. Whatever the case may be its ridiculous to generalize half of America as a bunch of moochers. Furthermore, it makes it sound like Romney wants to get rid of those entitlements that so many people rely on which erases more votes from his side.

3. I pay a lower tax rate and its cool
In an interview with 60 minutes Romney was asked about paying a 14% tax rate while other families making less are paying 25%. He said it was fair because it encouraged business to work harder to improve their business and to hire more workers to do this since they have more money. The trickle down effect is a tried and true way of creating zero jobs. It hasn't worked in the past and won't work now; the executives just keep the savings as bonuses. And despite the fact that Romney does pay more taxes in terms of total amount paid, the percentages seem unfair to a majority of citizens, and Romney attempting to justify them makes him look like a rich fat-cat.

4. I'd stop abortion
This is just my personal belief, abortion should be pro-circumstance. If you were a drunk teen slutting around college campus and just don't want to deal with the consequences of your actions then you shouldn't have the right to kill an unborn child. If you were a victim of rape of some other situation that was out of your control then of course you should have the right to choose whether you want the child that was forced upon you or not. While this is essentially Romney's position he didn't try to reason with anyone and essentially threw away the woman's vote. He never really explained his reasoning and just says he would stop funding for Planned Parenthood and would run as a pro-life President.

5. I'd let Detroit go bankrupt
When asked about Obama's bailout to the auto industry Romney staunchly declared he'd let them go bankrupt. The reasoning behind it makes sense, a capitalist economy means the government sits back and lets you do your thing, and if you go bankrupt its because you didn't make right decisions as a business. But the fact that the bailout did resuscitate America's motor industry Romney sounds like a tool to not make a decision that would save hundreds of thousands of jobs. That results in really bad P.R. for the Governor and essentially cost him the election.

In America policy and ideas are only 1% of the election. 29% is how good you look. 50% is how well you speak and relate to the public. And the other 20% is being able to sell your plans for the country in a way the uneducated mass of voters can understand them. Romney didn't have the last two things and he lost.

It will be interesting to see how Obama runs the country now that he doesn't have to worry about the repercussions of his decisions in another election. He gets a chance to show his true colors. Whether this is good or bad for the country is a decision to be made in four years.