The soul searching and caterwauling I am seeing from the right has to stop and they need to take a step back, take a deep breath and think for minute.
How does a president get reelected when unemployment is at 7.9% after being over 8% for the majority of his whole term? When U6 unemployment is higher than when he took office? When the nation's food stamp usage is at historic highs? When more families are in poverty than ever? When the economic growth is at 2.0%? When that president has suffered scandals like Solyndra, Fast and Furious and the when the election comes amidst the largest scandal, like Benghazi, Libya?
Well, riddle me this batman... How does a man get elected when he has no resume, no experience, never even ran a company, and barely showed up for his measly years in the Senate?
I go back to something I heard back in 2010, from Gene Simmons, in an interview where he explained why he voted for Barack Obama in 2008, then realized his mistake and was honest enough to admit his original reasoning to begin with.
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Asked why he wanted his vote back, in the video above Simmon's says:
"Because I voted because the man that was running was a moment in history. I, in the back of my mind, I wanted to show the world, that America, the land of slaves, the land that tortured it's black population, for hundreds of years, is also the place of hope that could give an African-American a chance to lead the most powerful place on the face of the planet.
However if you take a look at the resume, you couldn't find somebody, in retrospect, more unqualified. Two years in public office, never ran his own company, so after the fact I was questioning the qualification."
He wanted to show the world that America is not the land of racists. He ignored the inexperience. Ignored the lack of resume or qualifications. Voted for Barack Obama because he was black.
Simmons knew he would be accused of being a racist for changing his mind, regretting his choice and the reasoning of his choice, but how many people did exactly what Gene Simmons did in 2008?
There is no doubt Obama had supporters in 2012. No doubt that there are some liberals and Democrats that will vote for whoever is on the Democratic ticket, just as there are conservatives and Republicans that will vote for whoever is on the Republican ticket.
The question here is how many of those that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 for the same reasons that Simmons did, did exactly the same thing in 2012?
Obviously less people did so, because Obama has become the first to win a reelection with less electoral votes than he received in the first election.
But, not everyone is as honest as Simmons was, to concede what they had done in the first place and risk being called racist for no other reason than admitting Obama had failed, was over his head and state they wouldn't vote for him again.
How many 2012 voters thought of how it would "appear" if America tossed out the first black (technically biracial) president in history? How many wanted to "show the world" that America isn't racist? How many completely ignored the damage done, the scandals, the slowest recovery since the Great Depression, simply because they didn't want others to scream racism had we booted Obama out of the White House and refused the first black president a second term?
We'll never know but this constant soul searching, asking "what does it mean", do we need to be more conservative, less conservative, is the country left of the center now, was it the messaging, etc.... is all worthless because as America has survived throughout history no matter what has come our way, we will also survive another four years of Obama.
Conservatives need to look towards 2014, taking the Senate, then 2016, choosing someone as our candidate that we believe can undo the damage Obama has done the last four years and will do in the next four years.A candidate that can make America prosper instead of convincing America "this is the new normal."
There is work to be done people, focus, because every second you spend looking back at the 2012 election night, is a second you are not spending on America's future.