You don't pick the leader of your country based on his performance in a debate two days before the election. You're not voting on a talk show host. This is the President of the United States we're talking about.
Apparently, 54% of voters in the South Carolina primary chose which candidate to vote for in the last few days before the election. Over 70% of them said their vote was impacted significantly by the debate on Thursday night. That was less than 48 hours before the primary. Anyone who had done any research or put any effort into their decision would have already made a decision at that point!
I understand that procrastination is a growing problem when you live in a world of sparknotes and TV dinners, but guess what America... you're not in high school anymore. (Unless you actually are, but then you probably aren't voting.) You can't treat the Presidential election like a homework assignment! This election is not just about you. It affects the lives of everyone in America. Your decision to be lazy about your vote affects the entire country.
For those of you arguing that we need to forget Newt Gingrich's past and look only at what he's saying he will do as President, which I presume is the majority of South Carolina- you need to educate yourselves. Ever heard the phrase, "History repeats itself"? It's true! Yes, it's also true that people change, but Newt Gingrich hasn't shown any real proof that he has changed. He says he has, but why should we believe him now, when he's never stuck to anything he's said before? He's abandoned not only his politics, but also his marriage vows... twice. You have to look at someone's past to understand their character. A person's character will play a huge role in their leadership. Choosing to ignore that is simply ignorant.
Of course, it makes sense that Gingrich won this primary, since only 19% of voters said that character was most important to them in a candidate. It's possible that some of them just didn't think to say that, since beating Obama (the most popular choice) is a big issue in this election. But judging by the comments I've heard from voters, I think most of them honestly don't care about character. And that's sad.
As disappointed as I am about the primary results, I'm mostly disappointed by the nonchalance of my fellow South Carolinians on such an important issue. How could you let your own laziness and disinterest affect your entire country?
It's only by the grace of God that we ended up with the lesser of three evils winning this one (and I'm not even sure he's the lesser of three evils, but I like to think he is). Just days ago, Romney was leading in the SC polls. If it hadn't been for that interview with Gingrich's ex-wife and that debate on Thursday night, Romney may have come out in first place.
Even worse, we could have ended up with Ron Paul. (Actually, it would take an act of God to get him in office, and at that point I would assume that America was about to experience God's judgement in the form of a nuke from Iran). Now I know there are lots of you out there saying, "But Ron Paul would be such a great President, because then all our troops could come home and we could be happy, peaceful flower children!" Let me just tell you right now that Ron Paul does not understand the way to protect a country. Waiting for an attack and then trying to protect ourselves is a great way to bring the war onto our own soil and lose lots of American citizens- and that's what Ron Paul wants to do, instead of sending our troops out to prevent those attacks before they happen. I was told that his plan to cut spending was not to cut funding from the military. I saw him with my own two eyes and heard him with my own two ears when he said that bringing home all of our troops who are overseas would cut spending significantly. His own supporters don't even know his plans. He also said that Iran should have nuclear weapons, because if he were in Iran, he would want nuclear weapons too. No, really? I bet all of our enemies would love to have nuclear weapons. Does that mean we should put ourselves in their shoes, and step back and let them kill us? According to Ron Paul, it does. Well it's too bad he's running for President of America, not Iran.
I'll wrap this up by addressing one of the most offensive comments I've ever heard against the US military- that our troops are overseas fighting for something "pointless." Pointless. That is a slap in the face to our entire military, their families, our founding fathers, and everyone who has ever given up anything to earn the freedom, safety, and prosperity that you take for granted every day. I'm sure that anyone who doesn't want those things will be welcome in China.
