By Edwin Cooney
Author Theodore White once labeled our quadrennial
presidential election campaigns “…rowdy transactions of passion, tumult and
circus.” Now, as the 2012 presidential
campaign concludes, Americans -- regardless of their hopes, fears, prejudices
and partisanship -- are genuinely asking themselves “how does my vote really matter?”
Four years ago, sixty-two percent of eligible voters thought
that voting was important enough to go to the polls, the highest percentage of
the voting population to do so since 1960. Barack Obama’s popular vote was 69,456,897 or 52.9 percent
of the total vote. John McCain’s
popular vote total was 59,934,814 or 45.7 percent of the national vote. Obama carried 28 states to McCain’s
twenty-two. Out of a total of 538 electoral votes, Obama’s electoral vote total
was 365 (a majority of 270 is needed to win) to McCain’s 173.
Of course, by now it's old news how close this year’s
election appears to be. Political
pundants, in some cases depending on their partisanship, as usual are calling
it both ways. A budding columnist
named Cooney, a firm Obama backer, thinks his candidate will collect 303
electoral votes and approximately 52 percent of the popular vote whatever that
vote turns out to be. Karl Rove
(deservedly much better known and the genius of two George W. Bush victories)
predicted a few days ago that Mitt Romney will get 279 electoral votes, nine
more than he needs to become president.
Mr. Rove predicted further that Governor Romney will get 51 percent of
the vote to President Obama’s 48 percent.
What neither Cooney nor Rove can tell you is what the total popular vote
will be.
That leaves two burning questions: How does the outcome affect the fate of the American
people? How might the outcome
affect the fate of the candidates as individuals?
History clearly demonstrates that a president’s personal
outlook on what the legitimate role of the government should be, both at home
and abroad, can make the difference between prosperity and stagnation here at
home and between peace and war abroad.
Governmental policy, especially since the 1930s, has had a
lot to do with the way we live our lives here at home. FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton
and Obama all believed that government has a legitimate responsibility to
regulate the activities of major commercial and business institutions and
activities. Presidents Eisenhower,
Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the two Bush’s sought to reign in big government and
stimulate the economy by giving business and industry a freer hand in
conducting their activities. If
you are a Conservative, you are likely to believe that President Reagan’s
firmness toward the “evil Soviet Empire” was a major factor in ending the “cold
war.” If you’re a Liberal, you’re
likely gratified that President Obama saw credit card and home loan banking
practices, and national healthcare reform as high priority items despite the ravaging
recession throughout 2009 and 2010.
If you’re a Conservative, it matters very much to you that the George W.
Bush tax cuts will be continued under a President Romney. If you’re a Liberal, you’re likely very
concerned as to what the government will do to promote environmental and
consumer friendly products and activities during the next four years.
Whether the president is a fiscal standpatter or a
progressive may have a lot to do with how the government responds to future
natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy which has just devastated such a huge
portion of the northeast.
Tonight at midnight, Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, two
New Hampshire villages almost within shouting distance of the Canadian border,
will be the first two precincts to begin sealing the political fates of Willard
Mitt Romney and Barack Hussein Obama.
These two men, regardless of what has been said about either of them or
what they’ve had to say about each other, are highly energetic, well-meaning
public-spirited men. Whatever
satisfaction or disappointment one of these men experiences after tomorrow
night, his self esteem and sense of personal well-being is not likely to be
much affected.
History records that seven presidents (William Henry
Harrison in 1841, Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James A. Garfield in 1881, William
McKinley in 1901, Warren G. Harding in 1923, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945 and
John F. Kennedy in 1963) all died in office. Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were victims of
assassination. Ten other
presidents (John Adams in 1801, John Quincy Adams in 1829, Martin Van Buren in
1841, Millard Fillmore in 1853, Franklin Pierce in 1857, Andrew Johnson in
1869, Benjamin Harrison in 1893, Herbert Hoover in 1933, Jimmy Carter in 1981
and George H. W. Bush in 1993) left the White House regarded as political
failures in the wake of defeat following their four years of public
service.
As I see it, if social trends matter, if the way commerce
and business are conducted is important, if what only one individual believes,
does or thinks at all matters, then certainly your vote has vital national
implications.
Political success on Election Day for presidential
candidates and their families has been varied in its effect. I find the fate of one presidential
couple gripping.
Tuesday, November 2nd, 1920 was the fifty-fifth birthday of
Warren Gamaliel Harding. Tall and
handsome, an outgoing man who wanted more than anything to be loved, Harding
spent the day happily playing golf with his friends. That night, largely due to the ambition of his wife, Florence
Mabel Kling DeWolfe Harding, his birthday celebration was crowned by his
election as our twenty-ninth president.
However, his White House ordeal, lasting from Friday, March 4th,
1921 until Thursday, August 2nd, 1923, although by no means a
complete failure, was an uncomfortable time for Harding. He found his presidential duties to be
way over his head. Some 26 months
into his administration, the president discovered that two of his closest
friends, Attorney General Harry Daugherty (a long time Marion, Ohio neighbor
and friend) and Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, had involved his
administration in the infamous "Teapot Dome" scandal. It was later observed that Harding’s
discovery was embarrassing enough to the president to rob him of all will -- except
the one to die. His death came
suddenly at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco around 7:30 on the night of
August 2nd, 1923. “No
one can hurt you now, Warren,” Flossie Harding was heard saying to the
president over his open coffin as he lay in repose at the White House. Nearly sixteen months later, on Friday,
November 24th, 1924, Florence Harding died of kidney failure in
Marion, Ohio. The Harding’s thus
hold the dubious distinction of being the only presidential couple not to
survive a presidential term.
The ultimate fate of Warren and Florence Harding probably
mattered little to our national well-being, but it's worth noting that its
course may have actually been established amidst the glory of political victory
that election night ninety-two years ago!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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