Columns

One of the strangest aspects of Election 2012 is that voters are demanding change but didn't change politicians.

After its second defeat at the hands of Barack Obama, under whom unemployment has never been lower than the day George W. Bush left office, the Republican Party has at last awakened to its existential crisis.

WASHINGTON -- America's 57th presidential election revealed that a second important national institution is on an unsustainable trajectory.

"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you ... you may know that your society is doomed." Ayn Rand

Throughout the very long presidential election cycle, two trends remained consistent. The media lauded Obama no matter how horrendous his record, and they savaged Obama's Republican contenders as ridiculous pretenders.

"I don't know," a very wise and skeptical Washington political analyst confided to me on Sunday as I limned the Romney victory I foresee. "I'd like to believe it," she said, "but I have to overlook a lot. If you're right, then a whole lotta state polls have to be wrong."

PRESIDENT: The leading figure in a small group of men of whom -- and of whom only -- it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for president. -- Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary (1906)

Sometime after Tuesday's election, we will learn who won the presidency for the next four years and just what led to the result. But in the meantime, here are some general issues related to the 2012 presidential cycle that deserve consideration.

With only a few days until the election, Florida voters have to make a decision on which candidate can protect vital program budgets.

Election 2012 has had few surprises. So it's somewhat surprising that heading into the final weekend of the election season, we are unable to confidently project who is likely to win the White House.