Amazingly, the sun came up this morning and the world felt the same even after a monumental evening last night where months and months of rancor, punditry, mistruths, and general discord culminated in the re-election of President Barack Obama in the presidential election.
Yet, we once again were treated to terms like "battleground states," and the suggestion by some that Obama's surge in these key states had somehow indicated a voter mandate for the incumbent.
As of this morning, the total vote, out of approximately 115 million votes cast, was 58,720,700 for President Obama and 56,145,950 for Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger. Now, I'm a Journalism graduate but even I can figure out that's a close race, separated by approximately 2% of the total votes cast nationally.
When can we put aside the antiquated Electoral College and institute a popular vote for our President? Why are states voting one way or the other, when the populace in that state may be just as divided as the popular vote nationally?
It's time to move on and acknowledge that our country's leader should truly be decided by the people--not by some institution called a "college," which isn't even a source of higher education. And, it's time that the national media, and elected officials, acknowledge that our country is divided by a slim margin, meaning that neither side has mandate nor significant majority. It's time, quite simply, for change, compromise and cooperation.
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