The Romney Effect: Will Mitt's beliefs hurt his chances to become president?

It seems like a preposterous idea.  There is no way that it can happen.  People don't care about religion anymore or lack their of it.  Right?  Evangelical Christians will happily support a Mormon for president, just like any other Republican.  However, every other past candidate has been a Christian.

In a recent poll conducted by Gallup, they asked respondents if they would vote for candidates of different religious backgrounds.  Atheists scored the lowest with 54% saying that would vote for that candidate, and this was closely followed by Muslims (58% would vote for this well qualified candidate) and being gay or lesbian (68%).  Included in this poll as a choice was also Mormon.  Of the responses, 80% said that they would vote for this candidate including 90% of the Republicans polled.  Now, this poll was published on June 21st of this year (2012), and the polling took place on June 7-10.  So, candidates knew that Romney was their guy.  This could have had some effect on these numbers, but it's hard to know.

Now, this possible bias could skew the results, but there's no way to be certain of this.  Generally, Gallup has excellent polls that are well organized and have been conducted for a long period of time.  The numbers have changed little since 1968.  All of this would suggest that being a Mormon will not hurt Mitt Romney's chances of becoming president, but, with Paul Ryan as his VP, it's also hard to believe that his campaign wasn't, at least, a little bit worried about this.

There is also a somewhat similar real life example of polls not matching up with the outcome due to prejudice.  The primary example is Tom Bradley who ran for governor of California in 1982.  According to the polls, he was ahead going into the election, and, then, he lost the election.  The thing is that Tom Bradley was African American, and this result led to the creation of the theory know as the Bradley Effect.  You see, when respondents were interviewed, they claimed that they were undecided or voting for Bradley due to social desirability bias (telling people what you think they want to hear to appear less prejudiced).  So, people could be saying these things because they feel like they're supposed to, but it may not be the case.  Now, in direct opposition to this idea is the last presidential election where Barack Obama won the election.  Will there be a Romney Effect?  Only time will tell. 

So, you haven't read Give Me Liberty by Frank Miller?

Frank Miller was at the top of his game from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.  Then, he fell off a little bit, but, before that, he wrote an amazing assortment of comics.  Among his many achievements are The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Ronin, and the Sin City series.  However, there is another comic that doesn't really  receive as much attention as the others, and that comic is Give Me Liberty. 

Give Me Liberty revolves around the aptly named Martha Washington who lives in, for lack of a better term, a ghetto for African Americans.  Like most children, she attends school but is just an average student.  She is excelling at computer programming but is just a 13 year old when the story begins.  Martha befriends a teacher who smuggles her goodies from outside the ghetto, and he encourages her computer skills.  That is, until he is murdered by a local thug, and Martha subsequently kills the thug.  This action leads to her being placed in a mental institution until it is suddenly closed down, and she is forced to live on the streeets.  When two men try to recapture her, she kills one and injures the other.  However, with no place to go and a criminal record, she joins the PAX, the new American military armed forces.  Martha is just 14 years old, but the PAX accepts her and clears her record. 

The world has changed significantly by 2009 in this world.  The US has annexed Mexico.  The president has been in office for 13 years, and, during his tenure, over 50 amendments have been added to the constitution.  The US is engaged in multiple wars including a war against fast food companies in South America, and this is where Martha is off to.  This is also where she meets Lieutenant Moretti, who becomes the main antagonist of the story.  The rest of it is a bizarre fun ride, and the ending is especially good.  This is a comic that has to be experienced, and to tell you more about it would be, simply, unfair.  It's a must read, even if you don't like comics. 

So, you haven't heard about Post Secret?

Do you have a secret that you wouldn't disclose to anyone?  Well, you're not the only one.  Every week, Frank Warren receives hundreds, if not thousands, of secrets inscribed on postcards.   Some are funny; others are very serious, and some are weird.  All in all, they're a pleasure to read and fully anonymous.  This blog has been appropriately dubbed PostSecret, and it is the largest ad-free blog in the world with new secrets posted every Sunday.

Frank has expanded the website into a series of books and yearly speaking tours.  I attended one of Frank's speaking engagements, and it was unbelievably fun.  He talks about the creation of PostSecret as an art project and about its explosion into the popular blog that it is today.  His events regularly sell out, and, here, secrets aren't so secret.  People share some of their secrets in front of an audience.  The site is anonymous though, and, if you're interested, the site is simply PostSecret.com. 

So you haven't seen Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Have you noticed a lot of Will Ferrell's best recent includes a guy named John C. Reilly?  You know, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, those other movies? Ok, so that's it, but the guy is hilarious.  He's also crazy talented.  He was in Boogie Nights, Chicago, Gangs of New York, and The Aviator.  I wasn't familiar with Chicago (still not), so I had no idea that he was such an excellent singer.  The man makes the movie, and he may have been the only person to play this role.

Yet, he has an amazing supporting cast as well.  You'll recognize a lot of the actors in this flick including Kristen Wiig, Jenna Fischer, Tim Meadows, Craig Robinson, Harold Ramis, Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Chris Parnell, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.  Many of these cameos, but they don't steal the show.  The only actor to really go to toe-to-toe with John C. Reilly is Raymond Berry, who plays Pa Cox.  He hates his son and pulls a gun on him as well as fights him with a machete.  Why?  You gotta see the movie.  So what is this all about? 

Walk Hard is a spoof of all of the biopics out there focusing on musicians, and there are a lot.  It lampoons many musicians including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and David Bowie.  I'll be honest, the first time around, I didn't like it that much.  But, I watched it again, and it got better. Then, I couldn't stop watching it. There were new things to appreciate with each viewing, and most of it is the work of John C. Reilly.  He does so many little things that are easily missed, but it really shows how much work he put into this role.  In my opinion, it is an extremely underrated comedy and movie, in general. 

As a bonus, there's plenty of nudity, if you like that sort of thing. 

So, you haven't seen Not Another Teen Movie?

It's the kind of comedy that didn't get the attention that it deserved when it was released.  Still, I don't hear much talk about it, and I wonder why.  Truthfully, the first time I saw it, I didn't love it.  It was kind of funny, but I wouldn't have called it amazing or even  a stand out comedy. 

Not Another Teen Movie spoofs many of the teen movies from the '90s and even some '80s movies.  The most obvious is She's All That with Janey Briggs playing the Pretty Ugly Girl who would be gorgeous except for glasses, ponytail, and paint covered overalls.  There's football, that annoying best friend, the nasty ex-girlfriend, a pig, and a bet.  It also spoofs the Breakfast Club, Almost Famous, American Beauty, Varsity Blues, Bring it On, Cruel Intentions, and American Pie.  With all of this, it seems like it'd be too much, and the movie must be a mess.  However, it isn't.  The story takes some minor turns, but it somehow hangs together. 

Still, I didn't appreciate this until I watched it again.  When that happened, all of the secondary jokes came out ("Sex club meeting after school"), and the movies that are being spoofed become clearer.  Watching it for the first time, it was almost like being overwhelmed by comedy.  With repeated viewings, I was finally able to truly appreciate this flick, and it is great.  The cast includes a young Chris Evans, Jaime Pressly, Chyler Leigh, Eric Christian Olsen, Samm Levine, and Sam Huntington.  They're all excellent in it, too.  I badly want to quote it, but that spoils the fun. While I wouldn't call it a perfect movie, it is a joy to watch.  If you haven't seen it, you should.

 

So you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?

Well, then, you're in a for a treat because it's pretty damn good.  It has comedy, singing, and some action.  Weirdly (in a good way), the main character is a villain named Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris) who wants to get into the Evil League of Evil.  He's also infatuated with his laundry buddy, Penny (played by Felicia Day).  Of course, he has a nemesis.  The douche in question is Captain Hammer (played to perfection by Nathan Fillion).  This alone should be enough reason to see this, but there's more.  It was written by Joss Whedon (of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Avengers fame) along with his brothers, Zack and Jed as well as Maurissa Tancharoen. 

Dr. Horrible is a web series, but it came about because of the writer's strike.  While negotiations continued and writers stroked (past of strike?), the Whedons were busy making this web series.  The result is nothing short of awesome.  Now, if you like this, you should also know about the musical commentary.  It's 14 independent songs that don't really line up with the story, but they're funny and often impressive.  So, where can someone watch this amazingness?  Well, if you want it for free, I recommend YouTube (Dr. Horrible).  If you want to pay for it and support (I assume) the cast and crew, you can easily purchase it from Amazon. 

Stop lights as stop signs.

With gas prices remaining high, it's time for some easy alternate solutions.  Back in the 1970s, turning right on red became legal to stop wasting gas.  Well, how about we treat stop lights as stop signs during certain times of the day.  Honestly, how many times have you sat at a light with no cars in sight.  Now, at 10PM, on a non-major road or highway, why should anyone sit at a red light for a minute where they're just idling, wasting gas.  It doesn't make sense. 

Well, you might say, this is just going to increase accidents.  It might a little, but who doesn't have the common sense to know that a car is too close to safely cross the road?  Well, drunk people and people who shouldn't be driving.  These are people who shouldn't be driving in the first place and are a small minority of drivers.  I don't think that the entire driving populace should be punished because of a few, well, idiots.  Let's save some gas and some cash.  It may not seem like much, but, if millions of people start doing this, the difference might be noticeable.  People are going to keep driving, so we need to find a way to use less gas.  This is one small way, but many of these solutions together can start to make a difference in gas consumption.

Using church parking lots as park and rides.

As I drive through Minneapolis, I often hit traffic.  It's not just annoying; it's stressful and wasteful.  Stressful when we wait for extended periods of time, just trying to get home or to work. Wasteful in the amount of time, energy, and fuel that is spent in traffic.  While buses, trains, and carpooling are obvious solutions, these methods are either being put to use already or are not convenient enough. 

However, is there a better short term solution?  I think the answer is yes, but we also have to address the problem.  Honestly, the main reason seems to be convenience, though many other reasons likely exist.  So, there is a fairly simple solution that can benefit both parties, and it's using church parking lots as park and rides.  People who work around the same area can meet at a church that's approximately however far (one mile or ten miles or however many miles).  A church charge people to park there for a minimal price (which is helpful to them), and people can meet there and head to work.  This doesn't hinder convenience significantly, and it lessens congestion, decreases stress, and saves fuel.  It may seem like it wouldn't make much of a difference, but we need these sorts of solutions until better options emerge.  It's just an idea, and it's probably flawed.  What do you think?