2012 election reactions

• Though I voted for Romney, I'm not upset that Obama won. Both candidates were going to continue busting our budgets and limiting our freedoms. It's just Romney was going to do it with slightly more palatable judicial appointments. This election COULD nudge Obama towards the center and towards compromise. This notion is contrary to all evidence, but one can hope.

• What I am disappointed about is Elizabeth Warren winning in MA. I liked Scott Brown, and think that Warren is full of ignorant populist crap. I tremendously dislike any politician who is driven by their perception of changing the world to meet her view of what's fair, and sees economic division as the best means to enact their vision. She's the embodiment of the limousine liberal, and while good intentioned, doesn't have any idea of the negative consequences of the policies that she advocates. Yes, her financial regulation ideas SEEM to benefit the little guy, but they have unseen consequences, such as raised costs that reduce access.

• I don't agree with all of the talk that the Republican party is now sunk by (pick one) demographics, a liberal tidal wave, national acceptance of liberal social policies, or that the party's policies are inherently bad/unpopular. Instead, I think this election is an indictment of Republican party leadership. The whole "next man up" approach to picking a candidate needs to change. Dole '96, McCain '08, and Romney '12 were all nominees mostly because they were next in line. Surprise - they all lost. Obama was eminently beatable, but next-man-up meant that the R's ran a guy who was both the Father of Obamacare and an evil rich white vulture capitalist. Result: Romney couldn't really campaign on health care, even if Obamacare is very unpopular, and Romney was an easy foil to the "ask a little more of the rich" angle. In retrospect, running a candidate with those qualities was flat-out stupid.

• To support this point, I need to demonstrate that some other candidate would have done better than Romney. It certainly wouldn't have been any of the other announced Republican candidates (Perry, Santorum, Bachman, etc.), but I've got to believe someone (Mitch Daniels? Jeb Bush?) could have been a more effective candidate.

• It still stuns me that Obama's campaign (basically) ran without touting their first term OR clearly stating what their plans were for their second term. (That's how bad of a choice Romney was, as a candidate.)

• I now look forward to watching Obama reconcile his policies and tendencies with the looming economic realities. Some kind of dramatic change in economics is inevitable in the next four years. How will Obama balance his core interest groups (such as unions) with economic challenges such as unsustainable public pensions. 

• If I were in charge of the R's, the first thing that I would do is make Paul Ryan the Speaker of the House. Boehner is the embodiment of all of the party's flaws: old, devoid of new ideas, combative, and definitely not new media savvy or telegenic. Ryan, on the other hand, is vibrant, constructive, and following the presidential election, better known than Boehner. (He's also known for being able to go toe-to-toe intellectually with Obama.