Why Obama won and Romney lost

 It was assumed by many Republicans that Mitt Romney would easily win the office of President of the United States.  I, too, thought that Barack Obama would have a very difficult time being re-elected until I began to see serious mistakes being made by the Romney campaign.  I am not an expert in electioneering by any stretch of any one's imagination.  However, I believe that Mitt Romney was not personally responsible for the Republican loss. Rather it was his campaign operatives and their decisions and choices that caused his demise.

1. They tried to make Romney into someone that he was not.  Anyone who knows anything about politics should have easily been able to see that Mitt Romney is not an ultra conservative - never was and never will be.  Look at his record in Massachusetts.  Believe me - only a moderate Republican can be elected governor in the Bay State.  Also the majority of the people in the United States do not want an ultra conservative as president - plain and simple.  Even the Republican electorate confirmed this when Michele Bachman and Rick Perry eventually dropped out of the race because of a lack of support from the average Republican.  So it came down to Gingrich or Romney.  Gingrich had way too many issues in his personal life to become a viable candidate.  So that left the GOP with Romney - a good, family man with business experience.  Good choice, right?  It would have been until his campaign handlers tried to move him farther to the right.  This was a big mistake!  He did not feel or act comfortably as a far right candidate.  By the time people realized this and the fact that the country does not want someone from the far right as their president, it was too late.  The die had been cast.  He came off as looking almost like a Democrat in the final debate.  That probably would have been fine except everyone, both conservatives and liberals, began to question who he really was.  It's okay to change one's mind about issues but not every week!

2. The Republicans are on the wrong side of several social issues.  Their platform does not appeal to women, gays, or minorities.

They probably will never give up on Roe vs. Wade because that issue is their social standard bearer.  It gets them the Evangelical vote.  They think that it also should get them the Catholic vote but it doesn't.  Many Catholics go to church but then leave and follow none of the church's mandates.  (The Vatican needs to contemporize its beliefs but that's a whole different issue.)  The Republicans should, however, soften their views to appeal more to women.  Very few women I know like to be told what to do with their bodies - especially told by men.  Even many conservative women, who may not think that abortion should be used as birth control, still believe that there are times when an abortion is necessary.  Romney never really clarified what his view was - first he said he would not want Roe v. Wade overturned and then he said he would be happy if it was.

Gay rights and gay marriage is a "done deal".  After having been in education my entire life, I have seen young people become more and more tolerant and accepting of the gay life style.  As older generations die off, gays will become more and more accepted by the general public - period.  Republican need to forget this issue.

The sooner that the GOP learns that the country will not be run by old, rich white men in the future, the better off they will be.  Hispanics, Asians, and African-Americans will soon out number white people.  In order to become president, a candidate cannot write these Americans off.  Romney basically ignored or insulted these people.  His 47% statement, I think, was the first little kiss of death for his campaign.

3. Basically the Republicans tried to base most of their campaign on the economy.  Good idea, right?  Actually it was a good, idea, but they went about it entirely wrong.  Most people in the United States only have a rudimentary understanding of how our economy works.  They should have kept it simple.  Forget about throwing out all these numbers that no one can confirm.  Just because Fox or MSNBC says something doesn't make it true.  They should have let the Democrats use the numbers, and they should have stayed out of the numbers game.  Bill Clinton really did them in with his very effective "arithmetic" speech.  There are other ways to criticize the Obama economy rather than confuse people with numbers.

4. Republicans need to improve the type of person that they trot out in front of the public.  For just a moment compare Clint Eastwood to Bill Clinton, Meatloaf to Bruce Springsteen, and Donald Trump to Colin Powell.  

Finally, a bit of advice for the Republican party.  You lost the presidency and need to move on.  The economy will recover (I believe it would have no matter who was elected) so work with the Democrats to help make this happen quickly.  If you do, you will, at least, be able to take partial credit in 2016 thereby giving you a chance.

Soften your views on social issues.

Don't try and make your candidate into someone he's not.  If the Mitt Romney who gave his concession speech would have been the same Mitt Romney during the campaign, you may have squeaked it out.

Oh, one more thing - get rid of Karl Rove and Donald Trump!  
      

His name was Harry X. Martin, and he was my grandfather. A few days ago I discovered this old photograph of him and me - although I had temporarily forgotten about the picture, it is truly my favorite picture from my youth. As I looked at it, vivid memories of my grandfather returned to me.

He was born in Old Orchard Beach, Maine and earned his way through life doing odd jobs -working in the lumbering camps of northern Maine, working as a short order cook in diners, and who knows what else.

We shared our love of baseball as far back as I can remember. Many summer evenings we would sit in the dark on the front porch of his house in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, watch the traffic crawl by on old Route 1, and listen to Red Sox games on his Philco radio. I remember those nights as being a time of peace, contentment and pure unconfined happiness.

He taught me all he knew about baseball. We knew the batting averages of all the players, checked the Boston Globe every morning for the standings, and constantly talked about what it would take to move the Sox out of the basement of the American League. To this day, I can still name the starting lineup of the late fifties Red Sox.

He took me to Red Sox games in Fenway Park where we always sat along the left field line so that we would be close to Ted Williams. He taught me how to keep a score card. Sometimes we got seats so close to the "Green Monster" that I could nearly reach out and touch it. The smell of pop corn, cigarette smoke and chewing gum bring back memories of our excursions to old Fenway. Yes, he was a smoker. In this activity he was a real major leaguer. He smoked Lucky Strike straights - that's right - no filters.

He came to all my ball games from little league to junior high to early high school. I remember one summer evening he drove me to my little league game. No one else from my family was in attendance. For most of the game I sat on the bench pounding my fist into my glove and just waiting for my chance to get into the game. Finally in the last inning and with our team leading by three runs, the coach put me into right field. Anyone who has ever played baseball knows who plays in right field - the weakest player. That's just the way it works. Regardless I was overjoyed to finally get into a game. All we had to do is get the opposing team out for one inning, and we would win the game. Somehow they loaded the bases which brought up their best player. And, you guessed it, he hit a screaming line drive into right field and directly at me. The ball bounced about four times and then flew right between my legs and into the outer reaches of right field. I chased it down and threw it into the infield with all my strength. It was too late though - all four players scored, and we lost the game by a run. I remember that my ears were burning both with embarrassment and anger as I walked off the field without speaking to anyone. I got directly into the passenger seat of my grandfather's Pontiac. I faced away from him on the drive home so that he wouldn't see my tears - but he knew. He said nothing until the next day.

The next morning he showed up at my house and took me out into the back yard. He showed me how to go down onto one knee to block the ball from getting past. All the time he mumbled about how the coach should have taught me this technique. He told that if I did this that never again would a ball get by me, and one never did.

I was on my high school's freshman team in 1961. I was now playing third base, and one cold spring day, we were warming up for a game. My grandfather was in the stands chatting with some other spectators and waiting for the game to start while my coach hit practice grounders to the infielders. When it was my turn, he cracked a hard grounder which took a bad hop and hit me directly in the eye. The ball shattered my glasses, and I was out cold for a few seconds. The next thing I remember was sitting in the doctor's office with my grandfather at my side as the doc picked slivers of glass from my eye with tweezers. As he drove me home, probably trying to figure out what he was going to tell my parents, he said, "Well, you sure didn't let that one get by you."

You may be wondering about his middle initial "X". The story he told was that he came from such a large family that his parents never bothered to give him a middle name. So to give his name a touch of class and a little sophistication, he added an "X" for his middle initial. He always introduced himself as "Harry X. Martin".

Harry X. Martin died in the fall of my sophomore year. He left me much too soon, and I miss him to this day. He never saw me make the varsity baseball team that spring and start at third base through my senior year. I never got a chance to tell him how much he meant to me.

That's not the end of the story though. After he died, my mother and grandmother told me that he was not my real grandfather. For some reason, they had decided to keep from me the fact that that he married my grandmother years after my mother was born. To me though, he'll always be my true grandfather, and the best friend a boy can have.

Great new ad

Well, not much going on for me. Here's a great new ad that I hope will be out there soon. Enjoy!!!

https://secure.democratsenators.org/o/4/p/wfc/dscc/website/public/donate?donate_page_KEY=5462&default=50

Another day

Hello everyone. Nothing to blog about today - well, there is, but I don't have the time. No one is reading this at this point anyway. I am hopeful that people will come. "Write it and they shall come" or is it "Build it and they will come". See you later!!!

My view on Rush Limbaugh and NFL

First, let me preface this by saying that I am very definitely a liberal and believe in progressive values and philosophies.

Much has been said and written about Rush Limbaugh, and his attempt to enter a buyer's group to purchase an NFL team. Actually, and surprisingly, I like Rush Limbaugh! Ever since my parents started to take me to the circus when I was a kid, I've greatly enjoyed the clowns and their antics. So with that being said - is he a racist and should he be denied the right to enter into a business venture because of his political and social views?

I'm not sure if he's a racist or not - only he knows the truth about that. However, he has made statements in the past that are considered by some to be racist in nature. Those would argue to have Limbaugh own a team where the majority is minorities, would be the same as putting the fox in charge of the hen house. I think that this is a stretch in logic.

But to me the greater question is can a group of owners and their friends deny someone a chance to invest in a business venture? Understand that there is no public money being used to support the team (unless, of course, the stadium and infrastructure are supported by the tax payers). These exclusions do happen all the time. For example, we have all read about churches that deny gay and lesbian ministers from becoming clergy. The majority generally rules. If people don't like it, they are free to leave and start their own church - which has happened on occasion. Whether one is pro gay or not, most would agree that churches have that right.

Businesses don't hire people all the time based on their social and political views, their appearance, their religious views, and their sexual preferences. It happens - we all know that. Imagine an atheist trying to get a job teaching at a parochial school - again no public money involved.

So whether we like it or not, the NFL has that right to keep Rush out of professional football. However, surprising as it may seem, I believe that he should be allowed to own a professional team, just like women have the right to be Catholic priests, gays allowed to be teachers, and blacks allowed to be president. Yes, clowns should be allowed to own a professional sports team.

But after all this is said and done, I don't really care much about professional football. Now pro-baseball - well, that's a whole different thing . . . .

This is my first blog entry

Well, this is my first attempt at "blogging". I'm sure that I'll learn a lot as time progresses. I plan on talking about current events, my view of politics, social behavior, religion, and my take on what going on in this fast changing world. I don't know who will read this but here goes . . . .