Something Obama, and All His Supporters, Need to Remember

Much has been made of how Obama is the first President since 1956 years to get elected twice with over 50% of the vote. Left alone, that figure seems pretty impressive. After all, even Reagan and Clinton, both of whom were much loved by their respective parties and many in the other parties, couldn't manage this.

However...

Multiple news sources have reported that a much smaller electorate came out to vote than is normal. Yes, the 2000 was smaller (54%), as voters on neither side could muster up enthusiasm for their candidate, but in this really heated election, only 57% of eligible voters got excited enough to come out and vote.

Now, I still wonder if all votes that went to Obama were legit, but nearly everyone who's looked into this (on both sides) suggests that if there were fraudulent votes cast for Obama, there weren't enough of them to really turn the tide. However, I keep hearing reports that there were numerous counties where the number of votes exceeded the number of eligible citizens from those counties, and it's a plain fact that every state that required voter ID went to Romney. That last in particular keeps screaming at me.

But I'm not gonna call shenanigans, mainly because I have been poking fun at conspiracy theorists on the left for years, and I'm sure I don't look any better doing it myself. But the fact remains; only 57% of eligible voters actually voted in 2012.

So, when Obama supporters talk about how "loved" he is, and that he's the first president in over fifty years to get 50+% of the vote twice, they need to remember that he's only "loved" by 51% of 57% of the country. That explains why even though he won, it's still possible to drive from one coast to another, and one border to the other, and not even drive through a county that went to Obama, much less a state. To be honest, I'm not even sure the 29% of the country that actually voted for Obama "loves" him; they just didn't like Romney. Oh, sure, the liberal establishment voted for Obama, but rank-and-file voters? No, I can't believe they voted out of loyalty. They just got afraid their welfare, free healthcare, Obamaphone, etc. would be taken away if Obama lost.

So what happened to the other 43%? What kept them from voting? Well, some blame voter apathy. Not me; I blame voter despair. The fact is that as much as I, and others, talked about Romney morphing into a viable candidate, he never inspired much enthusiasm among the electorate. Many said he was as bad as Obama. Others said that he may not be as bad, but he wouldn't be appreciably different. I don't know, perhaps he wouldn't have been. Many are tired of voting for the lesser of two evils, and don't want to vote at all until they can vote for someone they believe in, and not just as a stop-gap measure. They're tired of establishment types who could never, even at gunpoint, truly relate to them and understand their issues. Obama could fire up people who were afraid their free ride would end, or just were afraid of Republicans in general. Romney simply didn't have the same ability to motivate voters.

The problem, as I've said before, is that Republicans can't look past the next election. Already I hear people talking about who can run in 2016 that will inspire the voters; why aren't they talking about inspiring people RIGHT NOW? You can't tuck your tale between your legs for every two-to-four-year period and then try to get people excited for a brief period, just long enough to convince them they should vote for you. We don't have many fighters on our side, and we're apparently trying to get rid of the few we do have. Allen West, Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy; we should be rallying behind these people and anyone of like mind who are fighting for the conservative cause, not just trying to get a career in Washington. And we should start fighting NOW, not when there's an election at stake.

We can start by impeaching the guy who just squeaked back into office thanks to a mere 29% of the country. Since his re-election, Obama has behaved as if he's invincible, what with the attempted gun grab, openly slagging his opposition using more open rhetoric than before (he used to act like Repub's were just curmudgeons; now he openly calls them the enemy), the IRS scandal, etc. He does this, I assume, while believing that enough people will blindly worship him that he can do whatever he wants. This is not true, but it could be if good men and women continue doing nothing.