Posted on 11/03/2012 7:37:05 PM PDT by markomalley
Last week, I noticed this blog comment: "Romney was not my first, second, or third choice, but I will crawl over ground glass to vote for him."
A lot of Republicans -- and, judging from polls, a lot of independents -- feel this way. If there are enough of them, Romney will win, and win big.
Are there? Well, there are some signs. I've written here before that politics is all about showing up. And in recent months, people on the Right have been doing a lot of showing up. They've showed up at Romney-Ryan events in unprecedented numbers. They made Dinesh D'Souza's "2016: Obama's America" a huge hit despite a virtual blackout from traditional media. They stood in line for hours at Chick-fil-A restaurants to buy chicken sandwiches in response to politicians' bullying. They packed houses at the "Hating Breitbart" premiere.
Will they now pack the voting booths and vote for Romney, and against Obama, in similarly unprecedented numbers? If they do, Romney will win in a landslide.
It's hard to judge from the polls and the pundits. Last year, we were told that Romney couldn't win unless he could appeal to independents. Now that he's got a double-digit lead among independents in most polls, we're told that it doesn't matter.
Political junkies look to last-minute revelations and scandals, to shifts in the news narratives, and to ad buys and travel schedules. And all those things matter. But in the end, it always comes down to who shows up to vote.
Four years ago, Republicans were dispirited, and yet somehow also complacent. After eight years of GOP rule, many had forgotten what the Democratic Party was all about. Some actually believed Obama's pretense to be a nonideological moderate. And many were unenthusiastic about the lackluster candidacy of establishment Republican John McCain.
So they didn't show up. They didn't vote. They didn't donate. They didn't recruit friends and relatives and acquaintances to show up and vote. And it showed.
Democrats, on the other hand, were fired up. After eight years out of the White House, they wanted it more. Many Democrats (and quite a few independents, and even a lot of Republicans) liked the idea of America electing its first black president.
They had the enthusiasm. They showed up in unusually large numbers, and they won.
In 2008, there were a lot of Democrats who would have crawled across broken glass to vote for Barack Obama. This time around, there probably aren't as many.
Electing our first black president isn't a big deal this time around; we've already done it. And it's not as though Obama has lived up to his promises. Guantanamo Bay is still open, we're at war across the Middle East (waging it less competently, perhaps, but still at war, and in new places), the promised economic recovery has never materialized, and, heck, Obama's even cracking down on marijuana users. Where's the hope and change in that?
For the anti-Obama vote, on the other hand, there's no disappointment. Getting rid of Obama, as the quote at the beginning of this column illustrates, is goal enough. Even for those who weren't big Romney supporters in the primaries, a vote for Romney is a vote to get rid of Obama, and that's sufficient. Those who thought that staying home in 2008 would teach the GOP a lesson have mostly either reconsidered, or decided that the lesson was learned, or that further lessons would be too costly for America.
For a lot of people, the thought is that four years of Obama might be damaging but survivable, while eight years of Obama might -- in the president's own words -- "fundamentally transform America" in a way that they don't like.
Ultimately, the question is whether "a lot of people" will be enough people to overcome Obama's own showing-up mechanisms, which include unions' formidable get-out-the-vote operations and the still-extant remnants of organizations like ACORN.
There's no way to know the answer to that until next week. But if the answer is important to you, I have one suggestion: Show up.
ABO
This morning I attended a special meeting for people who wanted to volunteer for Romney/Ryan/Allen/Cantor/Ballot Questions on election day. This is in a critical Virginia district that will set off the Northern VA liberal vote nicely.
This will involve standing out in the cold on election day with sample ballots, monitoring inside, and making calls.
Many there (genders were equal) were over 55 years of age, and a few had canes. (Taking off work to volunteer often falls on the retired people in the R party).
There were not enough chairs, and the volunteers had to listen from the hall. I would guess there were at least 50 people there.
Someone asked, “How big was this meeting four years ago?” And the answer was, “There wasn’t even a meeting four years ago.”
A fitting theme for the last two days of this campaign!
The Founders of America, impassioned believers in Creator-endowed life, liberty, rights, laws to protect them, and freedom of individual enterprise and opportunity certainly would echo Mitt Romney's statement today!
After centuries of Government-over-People arrangements, whether by one, a few, or many, our Founders saw liberty as a Creator-endowed blessing (see Preamble to Constitution), and that Constitution which formed our Republic changed that arrangement to a Creator - People - Government form of self-government which protected those "blessings" of liberty.
Revenge is not an emotion which is conducive to good government or successful individual lives.
Hopefully, on Tuesday, American citizens, motivated by an internal longing for more liberty and less government will have made their appeal to Divine Providence, as did the Founders, and exercise their sacred right to vote for a leader who appeals, not to their baser emotions, but to their God-given longings and desires.
Perhaps we might be inspired by listening to a tremendous modern hymn entitled, "Heal Our Land," by Orrin Hatch,, as performed by Winton Phipps.
Here’s the “Vote for love of country, not for revenge” speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocYMZQdKq08
I may get shredded here on Free Republic for posting this, but there are shades of Reagan:
-Confidence
-Optimism
-Class
-“America will come Roaring back” – (Reagan – it’s morning in America)
-Celebrates excellence and initiative instead of celebrating mediocrity.
He’s so outgunning Obama’s petty, hateful campaign.
He’s touched a nerve in the country and has been able to disarm President Narcissus in the short period of a few months. Few politicians could have done this.
Now the Emperor has no clothes.
Give credit where credit is due.
I actually voted Early DAY ONE. I couldn't wait for election day. And I hate the whole idea of early voting.
I pray that Romney/Ryan win and if possible BIG. I have a bottle of Champagne on ice, I hope to pop the cork early Tuesday night. I hope by 8:30PM
I's how I started out. Now I'm eager to vote for him and will be proud to do so. It took a long time for many of the myths to be debunked and he has further shown that he has what it takes and the inclination to espouse conservative values.
“There’s no way to know the answer to that until next week. But if the answer is important to you, I have one suggestion: Show up.”
I already have, I am happy to say! I got my vote in for Romney under the noses of a bunch of boisterous 0bozo supporters. I didn’t care. My vote is cast.
Now it is up to the rest of you. No matter how discouraged or fearful you might be because of the media propaganda, DON’T LET IT KEEP YOU FROM VOTING!! Best yet, vote and ignore the Tokyo Roses and eeyores in the media. Ignore the polls, too!
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