Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 10, 2012

15

ELECTION RESULTS 2012

 Mountain Views News Saturday, November 10, 2012 

“We are and forever will be......”

FINAL TALLIES: 

President/Vice President of the United States

 

Barack Obama/Joseph Biden (Romney/Ryan)

Electoral College Votes: 332 206

Popular Vote: 50.55% 47.9%

 61,678,507 58,482,074

 

CA Vote: 59.1% 38.5%

United States Senate

Dianne Feinstein 61.4% (Elizabeth Emken) 38.6%

US Congress - District 27

Judy Chu 63.4% (Jack Orswell) 36.6% 

California Assembly - District 41

Chris Holden 57.5% (Donna Lowe) 42.5%

California Senate - District 25

Carol Liu 61.2% (Gil Gonzales) 38.8%

 
“..........The United States of America” 

Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States

 To say that history was made on Tuesday night is an understatement. Never 
before has this country seen such a polluted campaign. Billions spent in an 
attempt to buy the Presidency. The amount of money spent was obscene, especially 
since our economy is in such bad shape. Interesting that so many of 
those who poured money into these newly created Super PACS got so little return 
on their investment, especially since the mantra of the Republican party 
has been that they are better at handling money, the economy and business 
than Democrats. It reminds me of a Beatles song that I used to sing (actually 
I’ve been singing it a lot since Tuesday - “Can’t Buy Me Love” although the 
words should be changed to “Can’t buy my vote”.

 We really need to turn our attention to the money involved in the process 
of choosing our elected officials. It has now reached crisis levels and must be 
stopped. 

 We also have to focus on how we go forward in the midst of cries that we are 
bitterly divided. Every election we have winners and losers. Every election just about half the country 
is pissed off. The acrimony associated with this election however, 
is being hyped by the media. If we are as smart as our votes 
indicated we are, we will reject this notion and all start working 
together for the betterment of America.

In any household that has more than one child, there are differences 
of opinions. For the most part, brothers and sisters fight 
all the time. My children are 18 months apart, two boys and a 
girl and I remember calling my mother once in tears because 
the most ridiculous argument broke out among them at the 
breakfast table over cereal or the sun shining or some other nonsense. I was so upset because my kids 
appeared to argue so much. “Mommy, your grand kids hate each other [they were between 10 and 
12 at the time]”, I told her hysterically, “and I don’t know why.” When I explained to her what was 
happening just about every day, she laughed out loud. “No Susie, they don’t hate each other, they just 
have very strong convictions about what they believe and they are willing to argue to defend their 
positions until they win. Don’t worry about the kids, they love each other very much. They’ll be fine”. 

Now, I thought that was an awfully sophisticated explanation for arguments over things like who 
was going to sit in the front seat of the car or whether or not the kid around the corner had on green 
tennis shoes or not. Mom went on to tell me that my own brothers and sister bickered all the time, 
something I wasn’t aware of because as she pointed out, they were 9, 12 and 13 years older than I, 
respectively. “They never argued with you, you were the baby”. 

Well, after I hung up the phone (by now my kids had stopped arguing, eaten and left for school - together), 
I felt better and began to observe their future ‘spats’ more analytically. As it turned out, Mom 
was absolutely right. Families fight and bicker among themselves but in the end, they are one united 
family (in most cases). My own children, who are all accomplished, middle aged, mature adults, may 
strike up a fierce disagreement over something as ridiculous as what is the best route to get to a destination, 
but they eventually come to an agreement and move forward.

I think you can see why this came to my mind this week. Now that the process for selecting our representatives 
has taken its course, it is time to stop the arguments and start working towards what we 
all have in common, a love for our country. We cannot buy into the hype propagated by the media 
just for the sake of ratings. Our differences are not irreconcilable. While we all have our own convictions 
and beliefs, we can address our differences in a civil manner. We don’t need to disrespect our 
President or any of our elected officials, or each other, just because we don’t agree. Just what does that 
accomplish?

 For the first time, I de-friended a Facebook Friend because of the vile response to the election and 
the downright evil things that were said about the President. That was totally unnecessary and serves 
no useful purpose. (Stop trying to figure out who it was, they don’t even live in the state).

 But seriously, we have to stop our own self destruction. While we are busing spewing forth hate and 
discontent, we take our focus away from what we should be doing, working together to help make 
this country a better place. It won’t be easy, but unless we try and encourage others to do so, things 
will only get worse.

As the President said in his acceptance speech, “We are and forever will be the UNITED States of 
America.” Let’s not wait until we have another tragedy like 9-11 to remind us of that. 

Susan Henderson, 
Publisher/Editor

We cannot buy into the 
hype propagated by the 
media just for the sake of 
ratings. Our differences 
are not irreconcilable. 

BALLOT MEASURES - QUICK-REFERENCE GUIDE

State Measures 

30 Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. PASSED 53.9% 

31 2 Year State Budget. State and Local Government. FAILED 60.7%

32 Political Contributions by Payroll Deduction. FAILED 56.1%

33 Auto Insurance Companies. Prices on Driver’s History . FAILED 54.6%

34 Death Penalty. Initiative Statute. FAILED 52.8%

35 Human Trafficking. PASSED 81.2%

36 Three Strikes Law. PASSED 68.7%

37 Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling. FAILED 53.0%

38 Tax to Fund Education and Early Childhood Programs. FAILED 72.3%

39 Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses. PASSED 60.1%

40 Redistricting. State Senate Districts. PASSED 71.5%

County Measures

A Advisory Measure Assessors Election NO 77.73%

B Safe Sex - Adult Films YES 56.02

J MTA Sales Tax Continuance Failed 64.4 % 

 This measure required a two thirds vote and felt short of that figure.