First, my thoughts on the challenger. I've experienced Mitt Romney as a capable moderate Governor of Massachusetts. I believe that he is an exceedingly smart and decent man (though I hope those 47% comments were merely the typical Romney pander - and if not, that decency does take a hit). Unfortunately, Governor Romney decided, as he did in 2008, that he had to run to the far right disowning his moderate mantle that he worked so hard to build as Governor of Massachusetts. Here are some things that Governor Romney did that candidate Romney would be outraged by:
- Initiated a "cap and trade" carbon tax proposal between other New England states. McCain/Palin called these initiatives "cap and tax."
- Passed a healthcare reform bill largely based on conservative think tank policies advocating for the individual mandate combined with tax subsidies for low-income families (sound familiar?) called Romneycare.
- Required Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception (a.k.a. the "morning after pill") as part of their official "rape kits" for sexual assault victims in emergency room care. See here.
If candidate Romney had run as Governor Romney of Massachusetts, then he might have gotten a closer look from me (deep down I was hoping for an Obama/Huntsman race). However, these past few weeks we've seen the Mitt we've always known, someone who has a good sense of what to do, but will say absolutely anything to get to power. And it's not fair to the Republican primary voter, nor is it fair to the general election voter to have literally no stance on key issues. For example on abortion, he told primary Republican voters that he'd be "delighted to sign" a bill that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended ALL abortion access, not even for the typical exemptions of rape, incest, or the life of the mother. Then he told general election audiences that of course, in a Romney administration he would keep these exemptions. He can't have it both ways.
I still have this basic feeling: Mitt Romney is not a bad guy and could be a good president. However, the Republican Party in its current state is not fit to govern (see Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock) and to vote for Romney would be to reward the awful political gamesmanship of the Congressional Republicans.
I still have this basic feeling: Mitt Romney is not a bad guy and could be a good president. However, the Republican Party in its current state is not fit to govern (see Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock) and to vote for Romney would be to reward the awful political gamesmanship of the Congressional Republicans.
I was lucky to see candidate Barack Obama up close as a State Senator from Chicago and federal Senator from Illinois. The young state senator got my attention because he came across as extremely smart, willing to work across the aisle on real policy issues (police interrogation rules at the state level eventually working with Republican Dick Lugar on nuclear proliferation on the federal/national level), and was and is a genuinely decent man of worthy character. And most of all, President Obama has done, in spite of an historically obstructionist Republican Congress, most of what he said he'd do. Here are some of the policies I hoped might be accomplished when I voted for then Senator Obama.
- A responsible end to the War in Iraq (completed)
- A responsible exit strategy for Afghanistan (initiated)
- A reasonable healthcare reform bill (passed) AND based on Mitt Romney's plan in Massachusetts
- Re-funding stem-cell research at the National Institute of Health (done)
- An end to the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (surprisingly passed) and side-thanks to Sen. Scott Brown for his courageous vote considering the circumstances
- Said he'd give the order to take Osama bin Laden out - regardless of the diplomatic implications. And if you think it's such an easy call, both opponents Hillary Clinton and John McCain criticized this posture in the 2008 primaries. Here it is: (amazingly DONE)
Like Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama will go down in history as one of the most successful conservative, yes you heard me, CONSERVATIVE presidents we've ever had. Someone who passed a very politically risky stimulus in order to avert a great depression and a very moderate healthcare bill modeled after the very successful Romneycare in Massachusetts. He's gotten America out of the war in Iraq responsibly, decimated the leadership of Al Qaeda (to the chagrin of very left wing and independent folks - who have legitimate criticisms of presidential powers including drone strikes and assassination "kill" lists). With re-election I believe he will have the political capital to tackle our deficit and debt situation in a balanced responsible way with some cuts to entitlements so long as responsible Republicans agree to revenue increases as well. I also believe he will follow through on his promise to tackle real immigration reform in his next term.
My favorite Obama quote is, "We are the ones we've been waiting for." For all of the messiah-complex writings on the man, the Presidency, as we've witnessed the last two years, is not extremely powerful. It's up to us to advocate for the sensible policies that will move our country in the right direction. That's why I'll be voting for President Obama, this Tuesday, November 6th.
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