The Election is Over

I decided early on I wasn't going to watch election news, but then I did.  I sat in bed and watched the poll numbers come in, read all the news articles, watched bits and pieces of election coverage on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and even a little Fox News.  I came down and woke Dr. J up to tell him when the tide started to turn toward the President.  I came back down again to tell him when the election had been called.  He came upstairs with me and then I sat up even later to watch Mitt Romney's final speech and President Obama's victory speech.  I felt for Mitt Romney.  Years and years of working toward this goal, how difficult it must have been to see it slip through his fingers and then have to come out and congratulate the President.  I think most of us can agree we don't have that kind of class.  Four years ago Dr. J and I used to say Romney should come to the Democratic party because we actually believed he was a more electable candidate under that party.  Now I don't really know, but I can say when it is all said and done even though I didn't vote for him I truly do feel for him and his family.  It was a rough election, the primaries and then the general, and the amount of money put into politics trying to destroy the candidates on the other side is obscene.   Maybe he dodged a bullet, still hurts though I'm sure.  I felt for my friends who were so invested in Mitt Romney for this election.  For many Mormons the election was an incredibly big deal.  It of course had the hope of taking the white house back, and the fear for the future that politicians are so good at using to motivate, but it also had the added bonus of the opportunity of seeing a Mormon, a man from a religion that is still by many evangelicals considered a cult, thrust into the position of the most powerful person on earth.  It was exciting, and then it wasn't, and then it was just disappointing   I definitely understand that.  Since I was a small girl I have dreamed of the day when a woman would be the president of the United States.  When Hillary Clinton got so close I was nearly euphoric.  When she didn't make it, I was left with extremely bitter feelings.  Plus I had two elections with George Bush.  It can be a hard pill to swallow, the disappointment of losing an election.  That being said most of my friends were extremely nice.   A lot of them quoted scriptures about watching one's speech and praying for the leaders of the country.  Some people were a little more antagonistic.  It is kind of amazing how people feel free to be so much ruder online than they would be in person.  I hold you personally responsible Zuckerberg!  But hopefully those voices will begin to fade and the real work will begin.  I hope that the country will remember that for most of us the middle is the most comfortable place, even if we lean a little left or a little right.  I hope that politicians will stop signing packs to not pass legislation, and will instead make decisions based on what is best with each and every individual piece.  I hope the country can move forward rather than back.  Most of all I hope the leadership in the Republican Party can find its way back into the marriage.  This idea that compromise is always wrong is the mantra of my annoyingly stubborn three year old, not grown up people dealing with grown up problems.  I was listening to Norman Ornstein on NPR today.  He was talking about his article Let's Just Say It: The Republicans Are the Problem.   Really such an interesting guy with some really interesting research and work behind him.  He isn't calling out your Republican neighbors and friends, but instead the way the current Party Leadership and election process is functioning and how it's action are making it exceptional difficult for anyone to get anything done. He really had some amazing insights and definitely a call for moderate Republicans to claim their party back, because the truth is we all work better when we have checks and balances and can find compromises and we need better when it comes to tackling some of the huge issues we have before us.