Presidential Campaign

To understand why Barack Obama and Harry Reid won historically powerful victories I would cite columns I wrote, including “Hillary women will save Obama,” “Morning in Ohio,” “The great USA comeback,” “Why Dems are winning,” “Why Romney is losing,” “Bill Clinton's big message,” “Conservative crack-up” and “Bob Dole, American vet.”

The reason I cited the first seven columns is obvious. Let me explain why I included “Bob Dole, American vet,” which was a tribute to one of America's great Republicans and one of America's great veterans and heroes.

The GOP was wiped out across the board.

The other side had a simple message ... Mitt never really found a clear, simple message of what he would do that was so much better for Hispanics, non-whites, the poor ... and he did not help himself by remaining pegged as rich and elitist ...

The GOP must devise a long-term strategy to communicate its message in a positive and trusting way to minorities and single women.

"To win, President Obama and Mitt Romney each seemed willing to say almost anything," said Robert Samuelson in The Washington Post on Nov. 5, Guy Fawkes Day.

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If Obama wins tonight, as now seem likely if current trends continue, Romney and Republicans face three heart-wrenching "what if"s:

1) What if Romney had communicated his "compassionate conservative" message of the first debate right after he clinched the nomination — or even at the national convention? And if he had, would the GOP’s extreme "Tea Party" base have done in Romney, as they caused the loss of the Senate in 2010 — the suicide squad of the Republican Party?

At this late hour it does not matter what anyone writes for purposes of influencing the election. Let’s discuss a serious point. Chris Christie's reaching out to Barack Obama in a bipartisan spirit in the closing days of the campaign clearly helped Obama, and I would have to assume was designed to help Obama or done with the knowledge it would help Obama. Think about it. This is extraordinary.

It is also extraordinary that either Mitt Romney did not invite Christie to appear with him in the closing hours of the campaign, or he did, and Christie declined.

The voters have spoken and the great and powerful mandate is clear. Barack Obama said during the close of his campaign that he would govern during the next four years as he has governed following Hurricane Sandy, with the bipartisan outreach he has offered to Republican governors, of whom Chris Christie is only one. Mitt Romney said during the close of the campaign that he would govern as he did as governor of Massachusetts, reaching out to both parties, looking for good ideas whether they come from Democrats or Republicans, all of whom love our country equally.

Well, we're all relieved that today is the day to make our vote count and wait in those long lines to make a difference in our once-great nation. Actually, I was at my polling place in Washington, D.C., at 5:45 a.m. and remained the only voter in line until 6:41 a.m. Four years ago I arrived at the polls at 5 a.m. and the lines were wrapped around the block. What has changed? Maybe early voting does affect voter lines on Election Day, given which jurisdiction you live in.

For over a year, we have heard partisan bickering and seen billions of dollars spent (for a job that pays six figures).We knew that this was going to be an ugly and expensive campaign (those two adjectives go together more often than you would think). This expectation has, unfortunately, proven correct.

Mitt Romney shocked Democrats across America with an overwhelming Electoral College victory, taking Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania to go with a reconsolidated South by restoring North Carolina, Virginia and Florida into the Republican electoral ranks.

Harry Reid’s hopes of continuing as majority leader are quashed as George Allen, Denny Rehberg, Josh Mandel, Connie Mack, Tommy Thompson, Tom Smith and, yes, Todd Akin all ended up sweeping their Democratic opponents out of office.

Chris Christie's high praise for the bipartisan spirit, crisis-management leadership, compassionate reaching-out and strong executive ability of President Obama says it all.

The fact that Christie would do this during the most important week of the campaign speaks volumes about Christie's integrity, Barack Obama's ability and the qualities that Americans seek in their leaders, which both Obama and Christie have shown during the hurricane crisis.

As the current presidential campaign winds down, and observers are inundated with political messages, a recent presentation on political advertisements at Miami’s Wolfsonian Museum is of particular interest. The Wolfsonian is a unique museum that focuses on propaganda. It hosted a film by archivists Antoni Muntados and Marshall Reese that presented presidential campaign ads from 1952 to the present. There were no commentaries, so viewers could take from the documentary what message they found in the 75-minute collection.