5 things about the election

11. There was the largest gender gap in history—Obama lost men by 8 % and won woman by 12%.

22.  The Republicans lost the Asian vote.

33  Romney got almost 3 million votes less than McCain.

44. 8 of the 10 wealthiest counties in America were carried by Obama.

55.   Are Florida and Ohio lost to Republicans?

Now what!

The election is over.  The status-quo is in place.  The American people have returned the same line up in the Congress and re-elected President Obama.  For people who were Republican supporters you should take heart that you won the House and now have 29 governors.  For people who are Democrats you now have the Presidency and the Senate.  The American people have voted for this system and expect it to work.

For me I am hugging my wife, praying to my God.  Working locally to make changes.  Finding things I can change and working to change them.

Romney Ryan for President

I will tell you like most conservatives that I was not a big Romney guy at the beginning.  What  I knew like most people on my side is that I would crawl across glass to vote against President Obama because of his big government, excess spending ways.  Yet, over time I have come to see Romney as a good man and a man for our times with the serious experience to deal with the budget and spending problems that we have.  I am not sure if Romney will win but I believe he will.  The main reason I believe he will win is that Romney has been able to gain support of every major group on the right in a way McCain never could.  The only group that might go their own way are the Libertarians but even they seem to be coming home to vote for Romney.  I know what the polls say but I think all the energy is with Romney.   Vote Tuesday, vote for change, vote for Romney-Ryan.

Watch debate on C-SPAN

If you want to judge things for yourself watch the debates at 8:00 cst on C-SPAN.

Ryan--why no poll bounce?

Paul Ryan is popular with big crowds at all his appearences.  That being said there is no polling evidence that he has made Romney more popular.  Is Ryan a bad pick or are the polls biased?  I think Ryan is a good pick and I believe he has made Romney the favorite.  Right now I believe polls are biased and off.  I believe that the polls oversample Democrats and the often do not look at likely voters but at all possible voters.  We also see many MSM outlets who want the President reelected.  Since the Ryan pick I see all the energy with the Republicans and until I see some change I believe Romney is likely to win.

Friday and we can see already the Ryan effect

Paul Ryan has changed everything.  The President and VP are so worried they are back to wanting to talk about Mitt Romney's tax returns.  This to me shows the President is worried and he has a right to be.  I think the only good thing for President Obama this week was the amnesty reaction by Hispanics.  He will get a big hispanic vote.   Yet, young people and others are breaking toward Mitt Romney and if this continues Obama will lose.

Ryan's Speech

This is a report about Paul Ryan's speech.  It is interesting because he is making a defense of Natural Law!

"In his talk, Ryan was all substance, avoiding cheap campaign shots yet repeatedly bringing the audience to their feet by making clear, powerful points about energy independence, the need to deregulate, fiscal soundness, the difference between a culture of self-reliance and one of dependence, and the doctrines of Natural Law and the Declaration of Independence. That’s right, he spoke about Natural Law and the origin of rights to a campaign crowd, and they got it. In fact, along with his discussion of energy independence, it was one of the two high points of the event. I can’t remember when I’ve seen a candidate address a mass audience at such a high level and pull it off. But he did."  Read it all

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/08/14/ryan-speaks-in-colorado/

Romney Ryan and the election

Paul Ryan has changed the electoral race as I see it.  Romney before Ryan was trying to make the election a referendum on Obama.  The MSM would not let that happen.  There has never been a politician more protected by the media than President Obama.  With the failed economic record of the President an election about his record would end in a record defeat.  So the MSM has done everthing they could to prevent the usual kind of reelection campaign.  Romney choose Ryan for many different reasons but the end result is that Romney understood that the MSM would never focus on the failed economic record of the President.  The Ryan choice makes it clear that we will have the debate about the economy because both the President and the MSM will want to attack the Ryan approach.  This will lead to a real debate on the economy but it will also mean many false attacks on the Republicans in places like Florida, Pennsylvania and Iowa.  These three states have older populations and the Obama campaign will attach Romney any way they can in these states.  Romney needs Florida and Iowa so the Ryan pick is a little risky.   I believe Ryan is a smart, conservative politican but the Romney campaign will have to do a real good job with the seniors in order to counter the attacks.   The campaign has become more interesting.   I cannot wait for the debates.  Yet, the lies are going to by really coming hard and fast.  As I filled my gas tank this morning I wondered how anyone could vote for Obama with 3.50/gallon gas and that is when I realized how negative the election is going to get.

Romney versus Harry Reid

In my opinion, Harry Reid is the worst Majority Leader in the Senate in history.  He has not been able to get a budget through the Senate in more than 800 days.   He has his own private problems back in Nevada but is the union's guy.  He made an unsubstantiated attack on Romney and we are suppose to believe that some unnamed person knows about Romney’s taxes.  This smells of desperation and I think the Democrats are getting worried.   

Best Cue in Tuscaloosa

The Pig Shack just won best barb-b-cue in Tuscaloosa.  I agree and just think what would happen if they actually do not have any place to sit inside!  Go and enjoy!

Waldhorn Inn in Pineville Nc

When we were in Charlotte we checked for German food and found that one of the 10 best German Restaurants in the country were in a suburb called Pineville.  We went for Brunch and they do real German Food and you get so much for $16.95 that it is a bargain.  I am glad we ate their but I am glad we do not live nearby since I would gain too much weight.  Go and go for Brunch.

Inequality is based on structural changes in family

This election you will hear a lot that inequality is a problem.  It is and much of the problem has little to do with the economy and more to do with the the structure of the family.  This article from the New York Times shows this better than most.   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/two-classes-in-america-divided-by-i-do.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

How Newsroom went from watchable to Liberal Attack machine

HBO’s Newsroom started as an interesting show on what an imaginary news program would be like.  I really liked the pilot.  By the third episode it was unwatchable and yet another line of attacks on conservative politics.  I guess I should have known what was coming but I hoped they would be more informed, more balanced, or just plain more interesting.   Instead, we get the same old trope that the tea party is controlled by the Koch brothers.  Each show is shriller, less interesting, and more liberal.  It got so bad by the third episode that they decided there is no use debating since they know better.  This is what Thomas Sowell calls the liberal vision of the anointed and makes it unwatchable.  I wonder how much of the audience is conservative and when the others will stop watching.  My limit was the third episode.  

Romney's Timing

We keep hearing from the so-called smart people that Romney needs to define himself.  The reality is that his timing has been great so-far.  This election, like most second-term elections, is much more a referendum on the incumbent than about the challenger.

Romney needs to announce his running mate about 2 weeks before the convention.  About one week before the convention he should make a major speech about the themes that he will focus on for the campaign.   His major address at the convention will focus on the themes and the future of the campaign depends on the themes at this point in time, not what is going on in July.  Most undecided people will not look at the campaigns until the elections.  So everyone should take a breath and stop worrying about what Romney is doing right now.

What states will decide the election?

Right now people want to believe that the election will be decided by 8 or 10 states.  The Romney campaign is doing its best to expand the number of states that Obama will have to play in.  For instance, the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Indiana all went for Obama last time and this time Romney is putting a little time and money in these states to make Obama expand the number of states he must defend.   Can Romney win any of them?  If he does it is game over for the President.  It looks like the President is running a Western strategy but that only works if he carries the states in the East that he carried last time.  The Presidential election is a chess like game with 50 different state elections.  Right now Romney has made an aggressive move.  Obama countered with a move on immigration that only works if he carries the East.  It will be a real interesting election season.  Make sure you have lots of Beer and popcorn!

Gas Grill or Charcoal Grill?

My old grill is dust!  I need a new one and I am trying to decide between propane and charcoal.  Pro and con?  Any recommendations? 

Obama and the Stimulus

The Stimulus that Obama passed three years ago still bothers me.   As almost everyone knows the Stimulus was one of the biggest amounts of money ever passed on stimulus ever.  As almost everyone knows what we need according to the Association of Civil Engineers is that kind of money spent on bridges, dams, and roads.  The Stimulus was a once in a generation chance to get that kind of money and use it for real significant needs.  Instead more than half the stimulus went for phony shovel ready jobs that do not amount to much.  Now the Democrats want to work on the infrastructure but the money is gone.  This is another reason that Obama should not be reelected.  The time he had the money he did not use it for the most important needs and now we still need to fix those bridges, dams, and roads and the money is gone!

Academic Political Science and Republicans!

The academic world is blaming Republicans for the grid lock in Congress.  A prime example is Norman Ornstein and Tomas Mann in their book, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.  They argue that the problem in Congress today is that the Republicans will not make compromise.  They say that the Republicans oppose everything the President has done.   They say that the President’s health care plan should have had some Republican votes.

    This week we saw one of the people I would bet they liked, and who occasionally supported the President, Richard Lugar loses to a tea party candidate Richard Mourdock.  There are many reasons Lugar lost including his age 80, the fact that he had not really livid in Indiana for years, and he never took his opponent seriously until it was too late.   Mourdock is no doubt more conservative than Lugar and if he wins will make it hard for compromise to take place.

Here is what I see.  Ornstein and Mann are right that the Republicans no longer want compromise.  Every compromise I have seen in the last 20 years has been to spend more, tax more or both.   The conservatives on economics have had enough.  The Tea Party has had enough.  They are electing people who really want to cut the size and scope of government.   They are electing conservatives on politicians.

For a professional who believes in governance the idea of a Conservative party means that government must work more efficiently, with fewer resources.  For many in the establishment and professionals like Ornstein the only way to govern is by compromise.

The Republican electorate is more conservative and voting that way.   We are never going to see the politics of past since comprise is mostly gone.  What replaces this will tell us what kind of Country we will have.

NFL Draft and the Chicago Bears

We cannot tell what the Bears draft choices will be.  In three years we will know the real grade.  What we know is that the Bears do not think there offensive line is a problem.  The national press thinks they know better and the Bears where wrong to not address the line.   I still see the Bears as thin on the D line and experienced line backers.  At every other position the Bears have better backups and more competition than years past.  By the time the Bears start camp they will have 22 new backups, starters, or rookies and 11 more free agents.  The Bears will be a new team and will be much harder to beat this year!

Santorum is out and viable 8 years from now

I could not see a path Santorum could take to nomination.  He is a class act and will be 2 years younger than Romney is today 8 years from now.  The Republicans usually take the next guy in line and if he plays his cards right he will be that guy.

Happy Easter !

May the risen Christ help you find your dreams.  "Be not Afraid"

Fairhope Alabama and Blue Moon Farms

This Sunday we went to Blue Moon Farms near Fairhope Alabama.  We saw a great concert with Grayson Capps, David Olney, and Sugarcane Jane.   The impressive thing was this was a house concert.  4 hours of music.  People brought great food and it was one very great time.   The sense of community and the rest are one of the great things about life.

Mitt Romney for President

I am going to vote for Mitt Romney Tuesday in the Alabama Primary.  He is the best choice to beat President Obama.  He would make a fine president but he need support.  If you want to beat Obama, vote Romney!

Why all Catholics should vote against President Obama

The recent problems between the Catholic Church and read this on his record    Obama's record on life.
All Catholics should vote against the President and remember his record.