UNSOLICITED ADVICE

    

          I’ve spent the last two weeks in Sheridan, Wyoming helping my father-in-law at his ranch.  He has a nice spread just east of town right off of Lower Prairie Dog Creek Road.  I’m serious, that is the real name of the road.  I’m not a cowboy, not even a ca’boy, but I help where I can, and my father-in-law is kind and patient.   We were able to get some things done, with minimal bodily injury to me.  Which is nice.

            It was especially nice to get away from the presidential TV advertisements in Colorado, (home).  You see, conventional wisdom, for what it is worth, says that Wyoming is a forgone conclusion and will vote red, (that means republican), so it gets no election TV ads by the presidential candidates; but Colorado is still up in the air, (that’s a mile high joke, in case you didn’t catch it), or up for grabs, so it is getting  tons of advertising.  Actually, I don’t know how much advertising weighs, but I’m certain they have dumped several hundred tons of it on us.  And yes, I intended the not so subtle analogy, implication, metaphor, whatever.

            It seems that every commercial is either Obama telling us what is wrong with Romney, or Romney telling us what is bad about Obama.  It is enough to make you want to vote for Ralph Nader.  Seriously, is he running, ‘cause I’d vote for him.

            Which brings us back to conventional wisdom, which says that most of the states have already decided if they are going to vote red or blue, and therefore only a handful are left in play; Colorado being one of those handful of states.  Most of the nation can pretend life is normal, but Colorado, along with Ohio, Florida, Nevada and a few other states, (we’re the purple states, isn’t that clever?) have to be reminded every single freaking time the TV is turned on that there are two people running for president who can’t say enough good about themselves, so they trash each other. 

What happened to Pat Paulsen?  Oh yea, I remember.  Can you vote for a dead guy?

This is all to Romney’s disadvantage, because it equalizes the campaign financial reserves.  Supposedly Romney had a big advantage in money, but by severely limiting the number of states he campaigns in he has lost that money advantage.  It’s like if you and Bill Gates both want the last Snicker Bar at the store.  Whoever grabs it first gets it.  All of Bill’s billions don’t help him as long as you both can afford it.  Now, if you both want the same Caribbean island, well, it’s going to Bill.

Romney screwed up by ceding California as a blue state.  I know that everyone outside of California thinks it is way liberal, but I lived there for most of my life, and it is more conservative than most people know, certainly more conservative than conventional wisdom allows.

And, Romney wouldn’t need to win California, although I think that is very plausible, he just needs to turn it purple, forcing Obama to go there and spend time and money.  California is expensive.  All of sudden Romney’s extra cash would make a difference because it would limit what Obama could spend in the other purple states.  A limit I guess Romney doesn’t have.

But, it’s too late now.  The die is cast, we just don’t know in what color yet.  It is almost enough to make you want to vote for Ross Perot.  Almost.

Instead I’ll go back out on the Wyoming range, where the deer and the antelope roam.  And never is heard, a presidential TV commercial!