(The Verge) — Finally, the all-telling day is upon us. Election Day 2012. After months and months of campaigning in what has been the most expensive campaign to date, the two candidates have to finally sit back and let the voters decide. I too, must try and reduce my blood pressure which has spiked over anticipation and just relax…
One thing is for sure…tonight will be a late one!
Going into November 6th, a cumulative average of the national polls had President Obama in the lead by only 0.7 percentage points. This is well within the margin of error, and the Gallup and Rasmussen polls even had Governor Romney maintaining a small lead, even after Hurricane Sandy projected the President to retake the lead.
Battleground states seem to be the last straw between indecision and finally determining a winner. Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin (Paul Ryan’s home state), Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are the x-factors in this election. Each candidate scheduled a busy day on the 5th, as Romney campaigned in Florida, Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire and President Obama went to Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio. Trying to embed their final messages, each candidate appeared tired and weary, yet anxious over today’s results.
They even broke tradition on election day, as it is normally custom to spend Election Day in your home state. Instead, each candidate made last minute campaign stops. I can’t say this is a terrible decision either, because with the race so close, any bit of momentum shifting would be beneficial at this point.
But with writers, campaign staff members, advisers, family members and candidates all tired of the day-to-day drain of the campaign trail, it’s hard to fathom that the race is STILL this close.
Advisers suggest that the only way to determine a winner is not to look at the last polls but instead monitor partisan and independent voter turnout. In states like New Jersey, whose voting system has been placed on its head from the hurricane, it may be a bit harder to determine a winner, but most agree we will have a clear winner as the battleground results start to come in.
Just two weeks ago, I was beginning to be more and more confident in the Romney campaign, which was picking up a substantial amount of inertia so to speak, after the first debate. He had slimmed Obama’s lead in the polls in nearly all of the swing states, and was beginning to take a national, cumulative lead. All indications were pointing GOP…
But then, Hurricane Sandy came upon us. Mitt Romney was thrust from the front pages and the b-roll and President Obama’s face became commonplace on the screen as (in his nifty Commander in chief NorthFace) he assured New Jersey residents everything would be okay. Republican strategists even admitted that the storm could have hurt the Romney campaign a bit, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (sadly) took some flack for seeming to “endorse” Barack Obama.
Although he fiercely denied this “endorsement,” he began to snap at reporters who wanted to talk Presidential politics during ‘Jersey’s time of crisis. He said he will be voting for the Governor, but shouldn’t be scrutinized for “lending a hand of friendship” to the President because he did a quality job in the time of a national disaster.
So as citizens begin to recover from the storm surge that ruined the coastline in New Jersey, people across the country are still in the Romney camp; and indications show the public as a whole is split on whether they’d like the commander in chief to return for four more years or have a savvy businessman come in to guide our economy.
There is just so much to say as I sit helplessly watching millions cast their ballots on television. Obviously I’d love to go out draped in red white and blue and holding Romney banners, screaming “Help elect America’s Comeback Team!” But clearly, this is not feasible. I can only wait (and do a lot of that) as the votes come in and anticipate good results for my candidate. To me, it’s comparable to Super Bowl Sunday, as I may sit back with some popcorn watching election specials, but for others, they’d just like to see it all over with…
To you I say: the end of this negative, expensive campaign is oh-so-close!
I plead with you though, research both sides and look at each candidate before you vote. Decide on the candidate who you think is fit to lead our country for another 1,460 days!
So as my blood pressure rises while I look at the TV as votes start piling in, I will realize there’s one last thing to say…a lot of respect needs to be dished out to both sides. Each campaigned viciously for the seat, and have shown me that they would like to nurture our country back to prosperity. I can only hope that either way…America will begin to be restored to the awe-inspiring potential we know it has.
