I Was Wrong

I love these De-Motivational Posters

My prediction didn't turn out and I'm not going to lie...it's been a sad 24 hours since the election returns started going South.  I still appreciate Mitt Romney for his gracious concession speech.  And I appreciate President Obama for his kind words about Mitt Romney and the Romney family

As a nation, we face some very urgent problems.  Let's hope that together we can figure out a way to solve them in a way that ensures peace, prosperity, and happiness for all.

Mitt Romney and His Family Following His Concession Speech Last Night

I'm Calling My Shot...

1932 World Series: Babe Ruth Calls His Shot

Today is Election Day!  Yay!  I'm glad that I already voted.  The big race is not the race for the Southern Orange County Community College District--it's the Presidential Race obviously.

The polls are all over the map.  No one seems to be able to say with certainty what is going to happen.  But I'm going to go ahead and call my shot--just like The Babe!

I think that Mitt Romney is going to be elected as our 45th President.  I know that the Electoral College math looks tough for him and I agree that it is a big hurdle.  But here is why I think Willard Mitt Romney will win.  (And I say this perhaps more with my gut than anything else, but wasn't it President Obama that proved to us that HOPE was a great campaign strategy?

Hoping for Change

• The polls are all over the map, but it seems like all of the turnout models assume that Democrats will turn out in the same or greater numbers than they did in 2008.  I think that's a bit optimistic.  
• The ABC/Washington Post poll had Obama up by 3 today, but it also oversampled Democrats by +6 (35% Dems to 29% Republicans). 
• CNN went one better.  Their final poll had the race 49% to 49%. But, their sample was overweighted to Democrats by +11!  Wow!  In 2008, the Democrat turnout percentage was only +6, I believe.  I don't think anyone thinks that they will turnout as well this election (even the Democrats).
• It seems like Romney has had the more positive message lately.  President Obama told us over the weekend that "voting is the best revenge."  Romney asked us to "vote for love of country."  Which message do you think is more inspirational.  (And what are we trying to get revenge against Romney for in the first place?)
• Most polls have Obama at less than 50%.  I doubt that he is going to win over the undecideds.  If you haven't been able to figure out whether you support President Obama over the past four years, I doubt you're going to walk into that voting booth today and pull the lever to re-elect the President.
• It seems like the Democrat turnout for early voting is less than it was in 2008.  Republican turnout on Election Day will be much better.  On balance, I think that this factor favors Romney.
• Finally, it seems like Romney has momentum and enthusiasm on his side.  This is totally anecdotal, I know, but I see headlines like this:

Plenty of available seats for President Obama's final rally in Ohio...maybe they were out voting?
Did I mention that this rally had The Boss (Bruce Springsteen) and Jaz-Z performing?

I wish I had more than that to go on, but I don't.  Political pundits and prognosticators are all over the map too.

I want to be clear that I'm not blindly "hoping" for Romney because he's Mormon.  To the contrary, I'd be more enthusiastic if he were not Mormon.  I think out political climate is so toxic that I worry that the scandal-mongers be on high alert to take Romney down from the moment the election is decided.  The long knives will be out for Romney no matter what he does and I worry that there could be blow-back on the Church.

As Exhibit A, I give you the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who recently said that it was "laughable" that Senate Democrats would work with Romney if he won the presidency.  Sure, Reid is a partisan hack, but he's also Mormon.  Just like Romney.  But even Harry Reid can't seem to overlook the party affiliation to try to achieve any bi-partisan results.  I guess we'll see how it goes...

So there you have it.  I've called my shot.  I could totally be wrong about my prediction.  I'm just hoping that I'm not...

Who do you think is going to win?

Say What?: 3 Slogans That Have Got To Go

I'm so glad that the election is almost over.  Here are three slogans that have really bugged me and I'm hoping we can leave them behind now that the election is almost over!

3. "Every Day Is Game Day"

Every Day is Gameday

Okay, this isn't a political slogan, but I've hated it all year long.  I really have no idea what it means and whatever it was supposed to mean, it means a lot less in light of the fact that we have lost 3 games so far by a total of 7 points.

Any athlete will tell you that you want to target your preparation so that you "peak" on game day.  Triathletes, for example, will "taper" their training so that they are geared to perform their best on "Game Day."  I suspect that our football might have played better if it had saved its best performance for Game Day.  

Maybe this is supposed to mean that you are supposed to try your best every day.  Great!  I agree with that, but that's a different slogan.  

We've had some bad marketing campaigns in BYU's sports history.  Does anyone remember how the basketball team claimed it was "Big Time Basketball" one year with a giant clock on the poster?  Seriously!  And I think I even got my picture on that poster and I didn't even bother to keep copy!

Maybe I'm just mad that the Marriott Center "police" confiscated my "COUGS KICK AZtecs" sign during one game because some of the tired old alumni were offended by it.  I was told that I could pick up my sign after the game.  I left that sign with the Campus Police.  I was sure that if I had picked it up, I would have had an unscheduled interview with the Honor Code Office!

Let's hope that the slogan for next year is better.  Too bad we can't re-use "Band of Brothers!"

2.  "Speak Truth to Power"

A famous truth teller

I don't know why, but I will forever link this quote with Hillary Clinton.  I saw it the other night in a movie that I was watching ("Fair Game"  It's an awful movie, don't bother watching it!).

Again, I'm not sure what this quote means exactly.  Shouldn't we always speak the truth?  I get the feeling that politicians use this when they want to speak half truths because otherwise why would they be congratulating themselves for speaking the truth?

Also, is Hillary Clinton honestly trying to tell us that she is willing to speak truth to power?  Last I checked, she was pretty powerful.  I wouldn't say that the Clinton family is kinda like the average family next door.

1. "We've Got More Work To Do/We've Come Too Far To Turn Back Now"

Obama on the Stump

I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, but I feel like I've heard this slogan a lot on the news over the past few days.  Every time I hear the President say it, this is what I think: "No Mr. President, you don't.  I think you've done enough already."

I'm still not sure how far "we've come."  And if we've gone anywhere, I'm not so sure that it's in the right direction, at least as far as the economy is concerned.

Sometimes, when you're in a hole, it's a good idea to stop digging.  Let's not keep digging.  Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

For Love of Country: Seven Thoughts on the Election

Vote for "Love of Country"

I just voted by filling out my absentee ballot for this year's election.  Here are seven things that I thought about as I voted this year:

1. Candidates that don't bother to fill out a candidate statement shouldn't bother to expect my vote.  Honestly, how am I supposed to know who you are or what you stand for if you don't bother to tell me yourself.  This mostly applies to the local elections where I have no idea what the holder of the office is supposed to do (i.e. water district candidates or board members for the local community college district--why are there at least 7 of them?  Do we really need that many when I don't have any idea what the job does?).


2. I'm overloaded with the deluge of commercials about California's various propositions.  What I really want is a gladiator-style debate where I can play each side's commercials to the other side and ask them if the claims are really true.  Barring that, I'd love to put them under oath and subject them to a little cross-examination about their claims.  Seems like I could save everybody a whole lot of money.


3. I actually try to read the language of some of these ballot proposals.  It's exhausting.  Clearly the whole "plain English" movement sweeping the legal profession has not reached whoever is writing these propositions.  Maybe they want us to be confused.  In the absence of such clarity, I often look to see what organizations support or oppose the initiative.  Many times, I will vote against the organization supporting the ballot measure.



Would you support Prop 32?

4. I'm sick of career politicians who skip from one office to another and make a living by eating out of the public trough.  I almost voted for one such politician who was drummed out of office under the cloud of scandal and is now shamelessly running for another office.  They should have put an asterisk next to his name in my ballot!  Thank you Google for allowing me to confirm my suspicions.


5. Who are these people that run for office?  Our political system seems so dysfunctional, I can't imagine who would volunteer for the abuse that comes with running for office.  I worry that this limits the pool of decent men and women who would be candidates and it scares me a little.


6. Everyone talks about encouraging people to get out there and vote.  Sometimes that bothers me when I see people that have taken no steps to educate themselves on the issues and who clearly have no idea what is going on.  Why should their vote cancel out mine?  Shouldn't we encourage people to get educated first and then vote?  Is that so un-American?


7. I'm really sick of all the polls in the Presidential race.  I can't make heads or tails of them.  I have a strong suspicion that someone is lying (whether the pollsters or the polls or the news media).  Does anyone really believe that this race should be as close as every poll seems to claim that it is?

This just looks like gibberish to me!