Don Roach: 5 Things We Learned on Election Day

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Don Roach, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Last week, I gave you my predictions for a number of races that were on our ballots yesterday. Today, as a rather disappointed American, I’ve got my tail between my legs. Disappointment is probably an understatement as I sit here trying to make sense of this election. Here are 5 things this election taught us:

The GOP must reach out to Latinos

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If I have said this once, I’ll say it a thousand times, Latino voters are THE swing voters of the 21st century. The Washington Post reported that Obama won 69 percent of Latino voters in 2012 compared to 67 percent in 2008. This means that the GOP is losing ground with Latino voters. It also means they are losing ground with one of the fastest growing voting segments in the country. If Republicans want to continue losing presidential elections, they can ignore Latino voters. It’s that simple.

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David Cicilline has nothing left to apologize for

David Cicilline has proven that your record does not matter. Some of you might be upset by me saying this, but we elected a man who nearly brought Providence to financial ruin and didn’t see fit to apologize for it until well after his successor had done everything in his power to steer the city out of the financial disaster.

It sickens me to even think about it, but we voted Cicilline back into office. Thus, Cicilline should not feel the need to apologize at all because Rhode Island just said “I don’t care” when it comes to his truthfulness during his time in Providence.

My prediction skills are not dead!

I called the easy ones, Langevin & Whitehouse. I called it for Obama as well, simply because I felt Obama was gaining over the past two weeks while Romney stalled a bit. It doesn’t surprise me that Obama won, but I would not have cared one bit if I had been wrong on this one. Romney ran a decent race, but if he moved the dial 5 points with Latino voters who knows what could have happened.

The big prediction I got wrong was with Cicilline and Doherty. I spoke earlier about that and don’t want to pour salt on the gaping wound on my leg.

So three out of four is not too bad but why do I feel like I lost? Ugh.

Less precincts weren’t more efficient

Because of cost-cutting measures there were less polling places than in prior years. When I went to vote yesterday morning there were already almost 100 people in line. From what I observed throughout the day and some targeted results, turnout was high. However, it appears that there were issues with getting folks their ballots timely and this delayed results reporting. The Board of Elections needs to address this issue because on presidential years, it could become a nightmare to vote. Not what anyone would call efficient.

Make sure your voter registration name matches your ID

I was almost pulled out the voting line due to the fact that I’m legally a Jr but my license doesn’t reflect as much. I didn’t hear much about people being turned from the polls due to a lack of an ID but it would behoove all of us to make sure that we’re not hindered by this requirement in future elections. Perhaps I’m just admonishing myself but, get those ID’s and registration names in sync.

So another presidential election is over and now it’s back to governing for the President. I’m tired of excuses, tired of rhetoric, but hope that despite the President’s shortcomings he actually does something positive to jump start the economy. We’ll see.

Don Roach is a saddened RI Young Republican. Don can be reached at [email protected].

 

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