Who will be the next US President?

I have been off the radar for awhile - frustrated with the blog thing I guess.
I have wanted over and over again to write something about the US election that is happening today, but every time I started something I ended up sounding like a ranting lunatic, which I'm not.
But I am frustrated.

• I am frustrated with the process. With politicians being able to stretch facts and outright lie to the people they work for. It just isn't right.
• I am frustrated with conservative politics - with words like "legitimate rape" and "binders full of women."
• I am frustrated with the American public - just watching the politics roll by - repeating sound bites without understanding the consequences.
• I am frustrated with politicians saying they are Constitutionalists - while they take away some one's right to marry who they love because it says so in the Bible (rightly so the Founding Fathers were pretty clear about that whole separation of Church and State thing).
• I am frustrated with liberal politics - for not being better at explaining that economics of the wealthy will not make our lives better.
• I am frustrated with the theory that privatization ... of medicare, of education, of FEMA, of social security, of prisons, of sewage and trash collection ... will solve all our problems.
• I am frustrated with people forgetting that we need the EPA because before regulation companies polluted our water and air and soil.
• I am frustrated because people so soon forgot that unregulated (unethical) business practices led to our financial collapse - the loss of our homes, the loss of our jobs, the loss of our hope.
• I am frustrated because people hate the Affordable Healthcare Act (aka Obamacare) and they have never even read it.
• I am frustrated that we have allowed our government to define a corporation as a "person" and have in essence destroyed the democratic process.
• I am frustrated that people are using our one and only fundamental right - the right to vote - as a way to suppress one political party from being able to vote.
• I am frustrated that the color of ones skin is still an issue in this election (Colin Powell would NEVER support President Obama if they weren't both black).
• I am frustrated that while the American public is focused on this election, they will not even give the government a second thought until September 2016.
• I am frustrated that billions have been spent this election cycle and there are still children in the US who go to bed with no food.
• I am frustrated that CEOs of the very corporations that destroyed our American dream are getting bonuses worth millions - while the people they "laid off" have no homes.
• I am frustrated that oil companies are still getting millions in tax breaks - along with their millions in profit - while hard working families can't afford to drive to work or heat their home.
• I am frustrated by how many of my students have never read the Constitution.

Overall I guess you could say I am frustrated. Having said that I see patches of bright light and hope in my gray frustration. I am hopeful that President Obama will have 4 more years to undo all the damage that has been done to our country. He will be able to continue to rebuild our reputation abroad, rebuild education, rebuild the housing market, rebuild the middle class and the American dream. I am hopeful that women will not allow all that has been gained to be flushed down the drain. I am hopeful that my children will have access to a better education and a brighter future. I am hopeful.

As ugly as it gets - the negative ads, the name calling, the outright lies. This is what democracy looks like. I have to go now - it is time to get to the polls - I am hopeful that I will make a difference and help to build the world I want my children to grow up in.