Obama Won --- So What?

Dear Madame L,

I've been reading comments online from people who are really mad that Obama won the election, and I understand that they're angry because they think he's going to ruin our country with socialism or whatever. 

But what I don't understand are the people who act like it didn't matter whether he won or Romney won. They seem to be saying that because Obama and Romney are basically both good men, with similar ideas about governing, the country would be no different, either way.

Since you appear to have been supporting Obama through all this election furor, I wonder if you agree with this view.

Sincerely,

Not Undecided, But Not Gonna Tell You Who I Voted For

Dear Decided Voter,

Madame L certainly understands both points of view, though she thinks those angry and scared people may may have been persuaded by hateful rhetoric, rather than rational and thoughtful and knowledgeable discourse, to oppose Pres. Obama's re-election,

However, although she thinks she understands the motives behind those who say there would not be different results based on who was elected, she disagrees with their conclusions.

Madame L notes that Gov. Romney promised to revoke the Affordable Care Act, declare China an enemy, and invade Syria (and undertake many additional impossible ventures) on his first day in office. 

He also promised to undo Roe V. Wade, stop funding Planned Parenthood, begin to voucherize Medicare and Medicaid, encourage immigrants to "self-deport," and undertake many other destructive actions as soon as possible.  

All of those stated goals, in Madame L's opinion, would have drastically changed the future for the majority of Americans: women, the poor and elderly, people with chronic illnesses, members of the military and veterans, victims of rape and incest, and minorities.

Yes, yes, yes, Madame L understands that whoever is elected President can't do much at all with a divided Congress, and she understands that most of Romney's promises were shady, empty, and/or will-o'-the-wisp panderings to whatever audience of the moment.

But that fact in itself means we had no way of knowing which of the many Romneys would actually take the presidential office. 

Also, Madame L notes that most of Gov. Romney's advisers were taken from the ranks of former Pres. George W. Bush's advisers, a disastrous group in every sense.

Therefore, while Madame L applauds those who want to make peace with their friends of opposing views by saying it doesn't matter who is elected this year or four years from now (or ever), she disagrees with them. 

Madame L thinks it mattered, for instance, that Pres. Clinton knocked down our national deficit (drastically increased during the Reagan years and ratcheted up again by Bush the Second). It matters that Pres. Obama fought for and signed a law that will continue to put into place protections for people with medical problems and long-standing illnesses, while still giving the big medical insurers all those health-care premiums they're so anxious about.

It matters who will be appointed to the Supreme Court. It matters who will oversee a transition to placing our nation among those other industrialized nations with a complete social safety net for their citizens. 

And it matters to have a president who will, as Barack Obama said, "say what he means and mean what he says." Actions speak louder than words, as Gov. Romney kept saying reflexively (and, strangely, without irony) in the last days of the campaign. 

Pres. Obama has shown by his actions how he will continue to govern. He doesn't say, "I love you women!" But he appoints women in his cabinet and to the Supreme Court, and he backs women's health and financially issues.

There's much more to be said and written about this, but not by Madame L, who is really tired of talking and reading about this stuff, so she hopes this will be the last question she receives about the election!

Sincerely,

Madame L