Yes, the Reynolds are for Romney/Ryan, and we have our reasons (lots and lots of them, not the least of which is the undesirable prospect of paying more personal and business taxes and making less money--as far as I can tell there hasn't been any dissection from real doctors of Obama Care in the media, but most of them are largely opposed to it for many reasons, and not just financial), but what I think is really great is that some of my very favorite people both near and far (yes, there are actually LDS Democrats . . .) are big Obama fans--and I'm okay with that.
I can get pretty heated when watching the debates or listening to reaction/commentary. I've yelled at the tv/radio more in the last few months than I've ever yelled at my kids in 15 plus years. But in the end, I think it really is an awesome thing to live in a country that has such a vigorous political process.
And here are my "vigorous" objections to certain parts of the process . . .
1) I'm concerned about voter fraud. (I truly hope the results of this eternal election don't drag on and on because of voter fraud issues . . .)
2) I truly believe that the majority of the mainstream media has become bias and if Romney doesn't win tonight, I would attribute at least some of that to all the negative press he has received in the face of a million and one softball interviews Obama has done on the View, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, MTV, etc. That guy is like 1 part president and 9 parts Rock Star. If you already don't like Obama's policies, it's hard to stomach all the celebrity endorsements based on stuff like gay marriage or the environment. (Those things won't put food on the tables of the average American . . .). I still can't believe no one has dared to ask Obama a single tough question about Benghazi, the national debt, etc. and even though the east coast is still a total disaster, Obama isn't getting hammered nearly as hard as Bush did over Katrina. I could be crazy, but it seems fairly obvious to those of us who haven't been hypnotized by Obamas smile and swagger that there is indeed a slobbering love affair between him and the media. (In contrast--to give just one example--the ever gracious Ann Romney wasn't on The View for more than 5 minutes before Whoopi Goldberg jumped down her throat asking her how--if she became the First Lady--she would explain to the parents of fallen soldiers why her own sons didn't serve in the military, and even went on to try to falsely connect that to her religion--craziness! I wish Ann Romney would have said, "The same way the Obamas have responded after not serving in the military.") Yes, everyone loves to rip on the right leaning FOX news, but there's a reason they are distinguished from the other news outlets--because they are left leaning! I mean, come on, they are all based in New York and Washington. Not exactly bastions of conservatism . . .
3) I also think only tax payers over the age of 21 should be allowed to vote. I know this sounds crazy, but I have a hard time with those who don't pay taxes essentially voting to receive more entitlements, and the young, under educated kids who make their voting decisions based on those same softball interviews mentioned above--it makes me CRAZY! I think people should have to answer 20 basic questions about the top issues of the day to show they are educated enough to vote. Who agrees with me? And again, if Obama wins tonight, I think at least part of that will be due to the growing change in our country's population from people who want to do for themselves versus people who want the government to take care of them. That, to me, is sad. My sister, Christina, spent all of her adult life on some type of welfare and it never helped her get ahead. In fact, the few times she tried to get a job, her rent would go up so high and her food stamps would get cut so drastically that it made more financial sense for her to stay unemployed and on government welfare. The welfare system in this country is NOT serving it's supposed purpose, as evidenced by the huge increase in food stamp recipients in the last four years. To be honest, big government scares me to death. (Getting off topic . . .)
4) The electoral college has got to go. When we lived in California, our vote didn't count. Now that we live in Utah, our vote still doesn't count. Unless you live in a swing state, you are effectively disenfranchised. Why do we even have a popular vote? What is the point?
Those 4 things aside (take a deep breath, Allyson), I do love the freedoms our country affords. Did you know there is a crazy evangelical preacher with a huge blog following that has over 2 million people signed up to write in "Jesus" for president since it is SO OBVIOUS that God is punishing this country by giving us a Mormom and a black Muslim for presidential candidates? (I'm not making this up!) Yes, it's great to be an American. (It really is, but there are a lot of nuts that live here too . . .)
Totally different topic, but I have refrained these many long months to comment on the "Mormon Moment" even though I've wanted to (only because of lack of time and the energy to organize my multitudinous thoughts on the topic . . .) but suffice it to say, I think most people outside the LDS faith would be surprised to know that there are NO political persuasions made over the pulpit in Mormon congregations--EVER! I'm sure there have been some isolated incidents here and there, but in my 41 years of attending LDS congregations almost every single Sunday of my life, I have never ever EVER heard anyone suggest who the congregation should vote for. Not even this time around. I think that is quite remarkable considering we have the first Mormon ever running for president and I know most other churches actively recruit their congregants to their candidate of choice. Here are two links for you to check out that do a good job of explaining the church's position on politics and political parties. (In the second video are two of our 12 apostles, so you can pretty much call that official church policy.) This should be fairly obvious to most people if they simply consider the fact that both Glenn Beck and Harry Reid are Mormon. That kind of says it all, don't you think?
Oh, there's so much more I could and want to say, but I need to get back to watching the "SuperBowl" of politics. (And feeding my family cold cereal for dinner.)
Happy Election Day! Go Mint!
(Every house in our neighborhood had a flag put out in front of it this morning by the teenage boys at our church. Nice!)
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