What happens when the television advertisements stop running and when the world appears how it is and not how a billion dollar media campaign wants us to think it is?

What happens when it dawns on millions of women struggling to make ends meet when they realize that birth control was never on the ballot though they’ll have to pay hundreds of dollars in a non-compliance tax for failing to purchase bureaucrat-approved health insurance?

What happens when the truth about Benghazi finally escapes the media embargo and we learn that the Obama Administration was involved in a coordinated misinformation campaign to deceive the public?

President Obama is one of the most charismatic men to ever occupy the Oval Office, though he has regularly used his speaking talents to demonize instead of inspire. “Yes we can” has been replaced with “the war on women” and economic demagoguery.

The president has proven that he is out of his league when it comes to getting Americans back to work. The national unemployment rate is slightly worse than it was when he took office in January 2009 and mostly hovered in the 8% and 9% range in between then and now.

The election should not be determined on which candidate is the more likable or the guy you’d prefer to have a beer with. We’re picking the leader of the free world on Tuesday, not a bro-friend. Competence trumps cool.

Obama hasn’t charmed the mullahs running Iran into ending their nuclear weapons program and the new regime in Pyongyang has largely continued the belligerent posturing of his father and grandfather. The remaining spokes on Bush’s “Axis of Evil” are still there and four years further along in their WMD development.

In a crass attempt to inspire young voters to turnout for the president, a commercial was run featuring actress Lena Dunham where she discusses her vote for Barack Obama in the same way a girl would talk about the loss of her virginity.

The ad got attention and was effective in that it focused on the “magic” and not the record, since college graduates have struggled finding work in the “please don’t call it the Obama” economy.

Elections have consequences and whatever tingle Obama supporters experience in the voting booth will be as fleeting as the same euphoric feeling Ms. Dunham referenced in her infamous “deflower” advertisement.

Instead of the joy of making history I would imagine Obama voters on November 7th and thereafter will be overcome with what Sterling Hayden’s character in Dr. Strangelove described as, “a profound sense of fatigue” followed with a feeling of emptiness.

Voting for president isn’t a one night stand; it’s a four year commitment.

Vote sober.

Please Don’t Waste Your Vote

The race for president is between two candidates, even if there are about dozen or so names actually on the ballot. The election is about whether President Obama has adequately led our nation over the past four years or if Mitt Romney can do a better job.

Voting “third party”, whether it be for the Constitution Party (whose views are closer to my own than the GOP’s), the Libertarian Party or the Socialist Workers Whatever Collective, is a wasted vote, particularly if you live in a swing state.

That said, those who reside in solidly Republican or Democratic states should not squander their ballot for a hopeless national candidate. While a state such as Louisiana and its electoral votes might be in the bag for Romney, the popular vote matters when it comes to “legitimizing” a president and facilitate the enactment of his agenda.

And with the decisions that need to be made to address our national fiscal situation, half-measures won’t cut it. The people need to provide as much of a mandate as possible for Romney to succeed, especially if the Democrats retain control of the US Senate.

As someone who campaigned against Romney in the Republican primaries, I can understand why many conservatives would be less than enthused with the former Massachusetts governor. However Romney is the only electable alternative to the incumbent.

People who are disturbed with the direction of the country under President Obama should resist the temptation to support Gary Johnson or Virgil Goode and responsibly vote for Romney.