By Paul Gable
Election 2012 is now history and we correctly predicted President Barack Obama would be returned to office for four more years.
This was an obvious pick from various polling data over the last week of the race, but the overall results on the national level demonstrated once again that American voters cannot be taken for granted.
Challenger Mitt Romney ran on the economy and the number one concern of voters in exit polling interviews was the economy, yet incumbent Obama was re-elected and it wasn’t as close as we anticipated. In fact, it could be called a landslide in the electoral vote column.
The American public obviously understands the economic collapse of 2007-08 left such a mess there was no possible short-term fix. It took the country 10 years and the economic stimulus of major war production to get the country out of the Great Depression. Our current Great Recession is not that different.
In our opinion, it means the House and Senate leadership of both parties in Washington must change. The same voters who returned Obama to four more years also returned a solid Republican majority in the House and a solid Democratic majority in the Senate.
Split party control of the House, Senate and executive branch, in various permutations, are an American historical tradition. Rarely in American history have voters allowed one party to control all three at the same time. It’s kind of the voters’ personal guarantee of separation of powers.
But, governing from the extreme right or left is not a tradition of American history and certainly hasn’t worked over the last two years. In our opinion, we must remember this is the United States of America and some type of unity must be reached in Washington on major fiscal issues.
In other races we predicted, our score was 1 ½ to 3½. So much for what we know.
The new 7th Congressional District saw the “R” behind Tom Rice’s name pull him through to a 10 point victory over Democrat Gloria Bromell Tinubu. One up.
We missed our picks on state General Assembly races nearly 100 percent. The only prediction that was even partially correct was in the SC House District 105 race.
Katrina Shealy won a strong victory over incumbent Jake Knotts in Senate District 23, making at least Gov. Nikki Haley incredibly happy. Here negative campaigning worked well. One down.
Incumbent Nikki Setzler of Senate District 26, however, relatively easily held back the challenge of DeeDee Vaughters. Here negative campaigning lost big. Two down.
In Horry County, the new House District 56 was claimed by Tea Party favorite Mike Ryhal in one of the closest races of the night, a 52 vote margin of victory with over 9,000 cast. Ryhal’s victory keeps the Tea Party marginally relevant in Horry County. Three down.
In House District 105, where five petition candidates battled it out with no party nominees involved, former county councilman Kevin Hardee won a fairly solid decision claiming over 40 percent of the vote in the five man race. ½ up as Hardee was one of our two picks to come out on top.
It sounds like you are slobbering and drooling over Obama’s win and that is shameful IMO! I am disappointed in your biased coverage of local races also! Get a grip – the people are supposed to be in charge, not corrupt politicians and biased media. Your opinions do not influence my decisions, so your evaluations are very limited on the majority of true Conservative American patriots! Try to be fair, instead of pushing an agenda!
What really matters in house seat 56 is that the good ole boy establishment lost on this one. Wonder why you had State Rep. like Clemmons, Hardwick, and newly elected Crawford jump in & endorse their establishment guy? I no longer consider this to be a creditable source of media information. Wonder how much each of Dennis’ votes cost the special interest groups that supported him?
VJ, which biased media are you talking about? The biased CNNs or the biased Fox News’?? Can you please direct me to a media source that is not biased and is not pushing an agenda? You can put the links here, TIA.
No, it sounds like I am saying what the American public did. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. By the way, I’m not sure what American Patriots you are talking about. I spent 10 years in the U.S. Navy. How much time did you serve in the military?
I don’t consider Freedom Works a creditable source of information about local races. Really, the first function of Freedom Works is to guarantee big incomes to Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe. Hope you enjoy working for free.
Did you get paid to give your opinion after Dennis’ pitch on the Sunday show or did you work for free? Freedom Works supports & encourages volunteering on many state issues. You must not be aware of the blitz on School Choice and door hangers pointing out Rankin’s voting record right here in Horry Co.
While it pays Armey and Kibbe over a million each per year. Nice!
So are you against free enterprise? Armey and Kibbe earn their pay and the research and investigative work has dramatically changed the way politics as usual has been impacted. Transparency and accountability are the high marks of this organization in confronting politicians and policies that directly affect hard working Americans who deserve to know the truth! Citizens now have a forum for information on bills in Congress and agendas that otherwise might not be forthcoming! It would be great if Horry County politics were as diligent!
501(c)(4)’s and 527 pacs are not free enterprise in my opinion and you still haven’t mentioned how many years you spent in the military.
Paul Gable is fair. In fact he’s one of the straightest shooting journalist you’ll find. Now if you really want to get a clear picture of “biased journalism” please read the attached article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-less-informed-people-fairleigh-dickinson_n_1106305.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=730621,b=facebook
Paul Gable is a joke. He is a washed up, fired journalist who is on the wrong side of every single issue. He got fired from the rag known as Waccamaw Publishers and has tried to apply everywhere in town. joke.
Comments from the Rice group are always amusing in their attempts to alter history. Ho hum.