Republicans are already testing out theories to throw out there as to why Romney lost the election. The most recent favorites seem to be that megastorm Sandy did it and that turncoat Chris Christie made it worse by making google eyes at the President. Really? That makes as much sense as those who believed that one debate turned every Democrat into a Republican. I was not one to pile on the Prez for that debate, and it surely didn't change my mind one bit even after listening to, and reading all the trashing and bashing that was aimed at the President. My thought was, okay, maybe he did have a bad debate, but that doesn't change what he stands for, what he fights for, what he's accomplished. Maybe as a parent, I realize that one bad grade doesn't mean my child is stupid. I for one, never believed the common wisdom which seemed to suggest that this one event was fatal and I resented every attack on the President.
But back to the point. First, I think that Mitt Romney's consistent lying has been a steadily building theme which up until now has seemed, to those not following as closely as us junkies, a little unbelievable. It is hard for the person who is generally honest to accept that, even a politician, will lie so blatantly. And then came the Jeep lie. Finally, even the MSM decided to come down on this particular lie with one voice. The CEOs of the car companies got involved and were obviously quite angry, and who can blame them when managers, employees, and hey, shareholders were asking public questions. The Ohio newspapers made this a front page story. The lie became the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and in the final few days of the campaigns, Americans are left to wonder if all the other accusations of Romney's lies were, in fact, correct.
We accept a lot of spin and exaggeration from politicians (way too much, in my book), but deep down, out and out lying doesn't sit well with us. For those who hate President Obama to their core, the end justifies the means. But for the rest of the country, it is simply not okay to straight out lie, and in such a brazen way that it is immediately repudiated (I always want to say refudiated a la Palin, because it really is a great word) by local and national television and newspapers as well as the companies about which you lied. And when the story lasts for days when there are only days left until the election, there is no time for a reset. Mitt Romney is a Liar, and in politics as in life, everyone gets discovered for who they are - eventually. Romney thought it would not happen until after the election.
The second reason that I believe Romney will lose is because of Republican efforts to suppress the vote. They have made voting, particularly in the two most important states, Ohio and Florida, an absolute nightmare with wait time up to 9 hours. I think this is a tactic that will end up back firing. My mother always said that the one way to get me to do something was to tell me I couldn't do it. Wilful is the delightfully old fashioned word she used. But guess what? I think that there are a lot of people out there who are more determined to vote because they've basically been told "No you won't if we have anything to do with it". Republicans will make voting so miserable and painful that all you wimpy Democrats will just give up and go home. Republicans should learn the definition of 'Wilful'.
So, two things. Romney's Jeep lie was a bridge too far for those voters who might have been sitting on the fence, and secondly, we Democrats have found our inner 'wilfulness', and we're not going to be lied to and pushed around by Republicans anymore.
President Obama has accomplished some amazing things against amazing odds in his first term, and this will be the real reason he will win this election. It won't be Sandy, or Chris Christie or any of the other excuses Republicans will be offering on Wednesday. It will be because he is the better choice and he has earned a second term.