Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Election 2012 - The Aftermath

The votes are in and counted (except for Florida, as usual) and President Barack Obama has been re-elected for another four years. So now we have to deal with the 'Why did Obama win?', 'Why did Romney lose?' discussions. To make it more palatable we are going to add our own election theories and solutions into the mix.
Electoral Map
Who won what? Obama = Blue, Romney = Red

The red stripe down the middle of the country made me think of an alternate way to decide the election in 2016. The premise of voting for your favorite candidate remains the same, but the electoral map resembles an Othello (reversi) board.

Election Othello
Election Othello
As states are won, a corresponding colored playing piece is placed on the board in a geographically similar position. Should the newly placed piece 'capture' opposing pieces then those states are overturned to match the capturing pieces color. As you can see from the game above, representing the recently contested election, if Romney wins Florida it will have no effect and Obama will still win, however, if Obama wins Florida then Romney will lose North and South Carolina as well as a diagonal stripe of states from Georgia to Oregon.

This will in effect nullify the seemingly unbalanced electoral college system and lead to more tactical campaigning in the outlying states. The importance of Ohio will drop and Alaska, a corner state, will be a prime target, especially if the New England area remains a democratic stronghold.

This radical shakeup of the system is one of many that has been suggested and one of many that will be thrown on the back burner and forgotten about, like proportional representation or a 3 party system. The 3 party system has been rejected numerous times for the simple reason that it takes people in Florida long enough to choose between two candidates without adding another variable into the equation.

Thomas Firman placing a vote into the ballot box
"I'm voting for Bronco Bama - he likes Big Bird"
Another suggestion is to allow the youth to decide their own future by opening up the polls to minors. Children are a much better judge of character than adults, who are usually swayed by their preconceptions. Kids see things in a more simple way and won't be swayed by the intricacies of a 5 point plan (which nobody but Mitt Romney fully understood anyway).

Who knows how future elections will take shape? What we do know is that in January 2013 Barack Obama will begin his second and final term as President of the United States of America, preparing the country for the next election in 2016.

Were you surprised by the result of the election? Were you hoping for a different outcome? Do you think Florida should vote a week early in 2016 so that they are ready when the rest of the votes are counted? Answer these questions or make random rants in the comments section below.


1 comment :

Janene said...

Okay, you lost me on the Othello thing. It's just too technical! I think the whole thing still boils down to Justin Bieber's endorsement of Obama, but you've covered that already. ;)

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