Byron York talks to dedicated, long-time Romney supporters right after the concession speech:
A few hours earlier, across the street at the Convention Center, the
campaign’s supporters and volunteers fully expected Romney to be the
nation’s next president. Indeed, what was striking after Fox News
called the race for Obama, at about 11:15 p.m., was how stunned so many
of Romney’s supporters were. Many said they were influenced by the
prominent conservatives who predicted a big Romney win, and they fully
expected Tuesday night to be a victory celebration.
“I am shocked, I am blown away,” said Joe Sweeney, of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. “I thought I had a pretty good pulse on this stuff. I
thought there was a trend that was going on underground.”
“We were so convinced that the people of this country had more common
sense than that,” said Nan Strauch, of Hilton Head, South Carolina.
“It was just a very big surprise. We felt so confident.”
“It makes me wonder who my fellow citizens are,” said Marianne
Doherty of Boston. “I’ve got to be honest, I feel like I’ve lost touch
with what the identity of America is right now. I really do.”
Posted as an example of how cultural change happens -- often, when you aren't looking. Or looking intently somewhere else.
“We were so convinced that the people of this country had more common sense than that..."
ReplyDelete"It makes me wonder who my fellow citizens are... I feel like I’ve lost touch with what the identity of America is right now. I really do.”
That really sums it up. I feel exactly the same way about the fact that Romney got almost 50% of the popular vote. Who and where are these people, and how can they actually think that way?
We're in a bifurcated political society, in which the two halves live in completely different worlds, get their news from different sources, "know" different objective facts, seldom meet people from the other half, and have no comprehension of one another's thought processes.
I frankly didn't see all that much difference between the two. It came down to a few minor issues with me. I almost voted for Romney because I thought it might be good for a moderate Republican to win to decrease the power of the reactionaries masquerading as conservatives that seem to be controlling the party right now. However it wasn't clear to me how much he would listen to them after the election or how the would behave with a Republican president.
ReplyDeleteLee