Presidential Election, 2012

I have interviewed several people in my lifetime, mostly elderly family members.  I have wanted to capture details of their lives that other family members might want to know.  I find it fascinating to catch a glimpse of the past.

I'm not sure that if I am ever interviewed, I will remember my thoughts on this election.  Seeing as a Mormon was running for President, I suspect my descendants will want to know how I viewed things.  I record this for them, because I never (ever!) discuss my political views with anyone.

I am a Democrat.  I am officially registered as a member of the Democratic party.  I have voted the Democrat ticket every election.  I don't agree with everything that the Democratic party stands for, but I don't agree with all of the Republican ideas either.  This goes against how most Mormons vote, and because of this, I refuse to engage in political discussions with any member of the church.  I just let them assume that I vote the way they think I should.  (It angers me that most Mormons vote Republican blindly.  In the past, when I tried to discuss anything with them, I found that they were grossly ignorant of the current political issues.)

One of the main reasons that I have voted Democrat my entire life is because I believe, quite simply, that the Democratic candidates are more intelligent than the Republican ones, and I believe that the Democrats see a larger picture than the Republicans.  Again, arguments can be made against this belief, but in the grand scheme of things, I think this is true.

When I think back on presidents I have known, the Republicans are stupid:  Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush (I think he was probably the smartest), and George W. Bush (the president who spent more days on vacation than any other).  I shudder even as I type their names.  I believe they had a very limited view, and wanted only to give Americans more money at any cost.  One word sums it up:  deregulation.

Democrats?  Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.  I believe these men had the best interests of our country in mind, even if Bill Clinton couldn't keep his pants zipped up.

Too, when I think of Democratic presidential candidates who lost, I feel only admiration:  John Kerry, Mike Dukakis, Al Gore.

(To their credit, I believe that both of the candidates this year were the best two candidates I've ever seen.  They are both intelligent, young, and non-politicans.  I did feel (and still do feel) that whoever won, it was a win/win situation.)

Of course, when I first began voting, the Democratic party was a bit different than it is now.  I felt that it gave voice to those who couldn't:  women, the environment, animals, children, students.

Now that most of those are represented, it has moved on to other voices, and that's where I needed to make a decision that caused cheers of victory in heaven from my conservative-minded grandparents.

This year, I voted Republican.  Not a straight ticket, mind you, but I voted for Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate.  I want to make it clear to everyone that I did not vote for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon.  In fact, I got very tired of the word "Mormon" being included with every introduction to him.  Did we ever hear what President Obama's religion is, or if he even has one?  

I voted for Mitt Romney for two reasons:

1.  The economy.  I believe that for the last four years, Barack Obama has done his best to turn this country's failing economy around.  He has been advised by the best and the brightest in the academic world, trying to mimic the success of other countries who have survived similar situations.  However, he is not a businessman.  He's a lawyer, and having lived my entire life with physicians, lawyers don't hold a high place in my mind (sorry family members).  They are good at finding loopholes, and are masters at logic and knowing the rules, but creativity?  I don't believe that is their strong-suit.

Mitt Romney is a successful businessman.  I can remember reading about him, saving the Utah Olympics.  He knows the meaning of compromise as he showed when he was governor of Massachusetts.  He was able to work across the aisles and get things done.

He believes in creating jobs for people.  Although this is a simple thought, it's a beautiful one.  As our family is now living in the higher spectrum of income, we feel the pain of "redistribution of wealth".  John sees the men who come into his office, accompanying their pregnant girlfriends, neither of whom work (but you better believe they both have fancy cell phones).  Of course, we are paying for their health insurance (Medicaid) so that they can come and see John.  Wow.  When did that happen?  John paying people to come see him.

Let's find these people some jobs!  Let's get them off welfare and contributing to society again.  I'm tired of telling my kids that they can't go to their schools of choice without a scholarship, because too much of our income goes to taxes to support the poor.

This is what our country needs right now.  A person to help people help themselves.

2.  Gay rights.

25 years ago, Democrats believed in giving voice to women.  They believed that women should be allowed to work next to men.

25 years ago, Democrats believed in helping children whose parents weren't helping them.

Now, Democrats believe in helping homosexuals.

I personally see homosexuality as morally wrong.  However, I will not judge a person, or demean them because of their sexual preference.  I support my church in saying that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman, and I don't believe gay marriage should be legalized. 

If people are homosexual, I don't judge them for that.  I have two friends who are gay, and I love those men dearly.  However, I don't want to know about it.  In the same way that I don't want to know about anyone's sexual preferences, or practices.

Why do we feel the need to announce the fact that someone is gay?  Why do I need to know that Wisconsin's new senator is a lesbian?  Do I want to know if any political leaders are sexual at all, or do I want to know any details of their sexual lives behind closed doors?  NO!

I am tired of being inundated with homosexuality.  It's on one of my favorite TV shows, Modern Family.  Survivor rarely has a season without some gay person (who usually happens to be Mormon ironically).  Celebrities are coming out.  Glo came home from school the other day, discussing the fact that one of her teachers is obviously gay.  Hannah hardly blinks an eye when kids at school announce that they are gay, or bisexual.  In the same way that I don't watch sex scenes (between heterosexuals) in movies, or on TV, I don't want to see anything like that from gays.  Ugh....

I don't want to hear it, and I don't want to know about it.  I feel very much aligned with the military's old stance on homosexuality:  don't ask, don't tell.

While I don't know that Mitt Romney had a stance against homosexuality (Massachusetts passed a law for gay rights while he was governor), I don't think he's necessarily for it.

I want a leader who will stop this progression of legalizing gay marriage.  While I don't think that Obama thinks about it much, or even cares about it, I know that because of his party, he will not stand against it.

We are sinking morally.  I would like to see a leader who will stand up to immorality.  It made my heart sick when a play-by-play of the demographics of voters was shown, and "unwed mothers" was included on that list.  Really?

There are other things that played into my thoughts during this time.  It angered me to think that Romney supported oil drilling at all costs to the environment.  I was embarrassed to hear that global leaders were nervous about having another Republican at the helm (thanks so much, Dub-yah).  I am sickened to think of more money being spent (and our deficit increasing), and yet prices for everything keep going up.  However, it was the two reasons mentioned above that swayed my vote.

And for that reason, having Mitt Romney lose this election was more painful than any of the other times my candidate of choice has lost.  I actually believed in him, and I wanted things to change.