It’s finally over: Obama Wins!

„It’s finally over!”, exclaims a very happy Jon Stewart, even though it means no more Democalypse jokes or using the „Bulls&it mountain” analogy in his comedy show (The Daily Show) on Comedy Central. He’s not alone in showing the visible signs of relief, but truth be told, there’s not that much to be happy about.

Gone is the giddy excitement of the 2008 election, an election full of hope and dreams, enter the grim reality of the huge deficit, unending economic recovery and uneasy state of the foreign affairs. And after strange debates (analyzed almost blow-by-blow by the media) and weeding out of the lesser candidates, only two were left standing. Except this time, neither candidate offers a clear road ahead for the people of the United States.

The extremely tough presidential campaign and election is indeed over, so all the slogans, all the muckraking and all the mud-slinging can be put away for at least another 3 years. It’s not been a nice or clean fight: a lot of dirt has been swept from under the carpet and back into the light of day. A lot of angry words have been exchanged, many of them by the media, who focused incessantly on this election for the better part of the year. „You didn’t build that!” is now a media-inspired catchphrase, even though Obama clearly didn’t mean to offend anyone and was just stating the obvious dependency of everyone on infrastructure, medical aid, government spending and taxes… Every word uttered by any of the nominees was then twisted and used by the others in a bitter fight.

Obama has been criticized most often for the slow job growth and very slow economic recovery in the years following the crisis. In truth, not much has been done, at least on the face of things, since the country is in roughly the same shape it was when Obama first came to office. While the President admits that, he’s also usually placing the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of the previous administration. It might not be true, though; experts say that the amount of debt and the level of unemployment could have been dealt with in a more decisive fashion, possibly helping the country get back on its feet much earlier. It’s not all Bush’s fault: the current President’s cautious political maneuvering, decisive but late car industry revival and healthcare revolutions made for a rather modest increase in GDP. And the debt (in this case, deficit) still stands at around USD 16 trln, which makes Obama’s second term much harder; after all, he’ll now fight himself from 4 years prior, having inherited much of the state he himself put the country into.

Romney, on the other hand, has been constantly shifting his views and focus throughout the election. While his smile and demeanor have an almost Kennedian quality to them, his constant flip-flopping in the media, backtracking on his own opinions and endorsements and lack of any specifics in terms of his election promises may have put many potential voters off. One example of this is the way he reacted to the „rape is something that God intended to happen” scandal, where his endorsee, Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock, had to publicly recant his controversial statements. Surprisingly, Mitt Romney’s campaigners didn’t fully back out of the endorsement, saying, „we disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him.” That is indeed surprising, considering the fact that previously, any time something untoward has been said or done by Romney, his running mate or his endorsees, a statement was immediately put forth distancing the candidate from the opinion, reversing his own words from sometimes mere hours earlier.

Obama gave this rapid opinion reversal a nifty name „Romnesia”, while Nancy Pelosi calls it „Mittology”. It’s „Mittology” because he often used unsupported (i.e. untrue) data to put his argument through. For instance, Romney cited 47% as a percentage of Americans unwilling to work, aka „slackers„, even though there’s very little evidence to support that claim. More than that, it appears that Bain Capital, an investment company that Romney headed some years back, didn’t create jobs to „put America back to work” so much as devoured and spat out companies that were struggling to survive. According to Romney, they fixed firms and then let them go it alone, but according to actual market economics, the companies were bought at basement prices and restructured (i.e., massive layoffs were made), then sold at a nice return. Even the companies that were just invested into sometimes (22% of the time) went under, making it a lot riskier, compared to the governmental investment, which, for instance, had an 8% failure rate in case of clean-energy firms in a DOE program. Though in a typical figure-twisting, Romney claimed that 60% of such investments went badly… Interestingly enough, his running mate Paul Ryan stated that „the path to prosperity is not in solar shingles and high-speed trains”, condemning the clean energy bill and shunning the idea that clean energy may offer a solution to the indebted, fuel-guzzling nation.

Sandy – a blessing in disguise?
Despite the many controversies, Romney had a lot of support. Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, was adamantly pro-Romney throughout the campaign and has been a staunch critic of the Obama administration long before the race. But even he was actually in awe of the president’s response to the aftermath of the hurricane Sandy on the Eastern Seaboard, a natural cataclysm that left much of New York and New Jersey in tatters and without power. He actually refused to talk politics when asked about Sandy in context of the presidential election by FOX TV reporters. Instead, he praised the way Obama reacted in the face of the natural disaster. Some other time critics might have called the President’s swift and decisive action political posturing, a way to gain some last-minute momentum before the election day. However, even media treated the developing crisis outside of the presidential election, opting instead to bring news and plead for assistance.

It’s also not clear if all New Yorkers were even able to cast their votes, so Sandy may have damaged not only the electrical grid and homes of the millions of people, but also a chance for some people to vote. NY is not a swing state though, so even without many votes it was a done deal from the start, hurricane or not.

Let’s not forget though: in this election, people didn’t really vote for the best candidate so much as against what they felt was a greater evil, even though it’s still not clear what kind of a president Romney might have been. Mostly because it appears that throughout the election Mitt Romney never showed his actual opinions or beliefs, instead mirroring or echoing those of his selected audience at the time.

So here we are, it’s November 6, Obama’s back in the president’s chair. Will the new/old occupant of the Oval Office change his previously charted course or continue the „slow and steady” approach that he is now famous for? Only time will tell.

VOCABULARY

to exclaim – zachwycić się czymś
visible – widoczny
relief – ulga
giddy excitement – radosne podniecenie
grim – ponury
unending – niekończący się
economic recovery – zdrowienie gospodarki
uneasy – niepewny
foreign affairs – sprawy zagraniczne
blow-by-blow – krok po kroku, szczegółowo
to weed sth out – przebrać, wyplenić
extremely – niezwykle
muckraking – pogoń za sensacją, skandalizowanie
mud-slinging – obrzucanie (się) błotem
dirt – brud, tu: brudne sprawki
to sweep sth under the carpet/rug – usunąć coś w cień, zatuszować coś
to exchange – wymienić
incessantly – bez ustanku
the better part of sth – większa część czegoś
catchphrase – powiedzonko
to offend – obrazić
to state – oświadczyć, powiedzieć
dependency – zależność
aid – pomoc, wsparcie
to utter – powiedzieć, rzec
nominee – nominowany, kandydat
twisted – przekręcony
bitter – gorzki, zawzięty
on the face of sth – na pierwszy rzut oka (na coś)
roughly – z grubsza
shape – stan, forma
to come to office – objąć urząd
to admit – przyznawać
to place the blame on sb – obarczyć kogoś winą o coś
squarely – prosto, całkiem
debt – zadłużenie
unemployment – bezrobocie
to deal with sth – poradzić sobie z czymś
in decisive fashion – zdecydowanie, w zdecydowany sposób
to get back on one’s feet – stanąć na nogi, odzyskać siły
fault – wina
cautious – ostrożny
maneuvering – manewrowanie, lawirowanie
revival – ożywienie
modest – skromny
GDP (gross domestic product) – PKB (produkt krajowy brutto)
term – kadencja
prior – poprzednio
to inherit – odziedziczyć
constantly – stale
demeanor – zachowanie, postawa
flip-flopping – ciągłe zmienianie zdania, bycie jak chorągiewka na wietrze
to backtrack on sth – cofnąć swoje słowa
endorsement – wspieranie (kogoś), polecanie (kogoś)
specifics – szczegóły, konkrety
to put sb off – odstręczyć, odstraszyć kogoś
to intend – zamierzać
to recant sth – cofnąć słowa, wyrzec się (przekonań)
to back out of sth – wycofać sie z czegoś
regarding – odnośnie (do), co się tyczy
exception – wyjątek
incest – incest, kazirodztwo
untoward – niestosowny
running mate – kandydat na wice-prezydenta (USA)
to put forth – wygłosić, ogłosić
to distance sb from sth – zdystansować się od czegoś (o kimś)
mere – zaledwie
rapid – gwałtowny, szybki
nifty – sprytny, zmyślny
unsupported – nieuzasadniony, bez dowodów
data – dane
to cite – przytoczyć
unwilling – niechętny, nieskory
aka (also known as) – znany jako
slacker – obibok
evidence – dowody
claim – twierdzenie
to head sth – przewodniczyć czemuś, kierować czymś
to devour – pożreć
to spit – wypluć
to struggle to survive – walczyć o przetrwanie
to go it alone – pójść na własne, zacząć działać o własnych siłach
basement price – najniższa cena
layoffs – zwolnienia
return – zwrot (np. z inwestycji)
to go under – zbankrutować, ponieść porażkę
failure rate – wskaźnik niepowodzeń, ilość porażek
DOE (Department of Energy/Environment) – Ministerstwo Środowiska/Energii (USA)
figure – liczba, cyfra
to go badly – nie powieść się, źle pójść
path – droga, ścieżka
shingle – dachówka, gont
to condemn – pogrążyć, potępić
bill – projekt ustawy
to shun sth – pogardzać czymś, odrzucać coś
indebted – zadłużony
fuel-guzzling – zużywający ogromne ilości paliwa, „dużo palący” (np. o aucie)
blessing – błogosławieństwo
disguise – przebranie
despite – pomimo
governor – gubernator
adamantly – stanowczo
staunch – wierny, wytrwały
to be in awe – podziwiać
response – reakcja, odpowiedź
aftermath – następstwo
Eastern Seaboard – wschodnie wybrzeże Stanów Zjednoczonych
in tatters – w strzępach, w politowania godnym stanie
to refuse – odmówić
to praise – pochwalić
in the face of sth – w obliczu czegoś
disaster – katastrofa
posturing – pozerstwo
to gain – zyskać
last-minute – na ostatnią chwilę
momentum – rozpęd, pęd
to opt – wybierać, optować (za czymś)
to plead – prosić
to cast one’s vote – zagłosować, oddać swój głos
to damage – uszkodzić
electrical grid – sieć energetyczna
swing state – stan bez konkretnej preferencji politycznej (USA)
done deal – pewniak
greater evil – większe zło
beliefs – wierzenia, poglądy
to mirror – naśladować
to echo – wtórować, powtarzać
occupant – mieszkaniec
Oval Office – gabinet owalny (USA)
charted – wyznaczony (kurs), określona (droga)
slow and steady – powoli, lecz pewnie
approach – podejście, nastawienie