The 2012 election between challenger Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama was the most expensive ( over 1.6 billion was spent) and bloodiest election in American history. This also happened to be the first presidential election that I ever paid close attention to. Both Democrats and Republican have drawn several conclusions about the elections; the Dem’s are touting the “New America” while the Republican’s are reassessing where they need to improve, primarily with women and minorities.
I have drawn only one conclusion and it’s sad; politics in America are no longer won or lost, but rather bought and sold. Imagine a world where candidates for ANY public office we’re forced to grassroots campaign. Could not a more informed and decisive decision be made by the American public by the elimination of Super-PACS, corporations, TV, and radio? The messages of both candidates became so skewed and muddled during the election because at any given time you could turn on Fox News or CNN and hear completely conflicting stories. It’s no secret that certain news groups are anchored to the Right and to the Left, but what happened to all the journalist that sought the truth?
I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but in many ways I share Mitt Romney’s vision of America. The government has become to large. We have far too many people on food stamps, wellfare, Section 8 housing and government healthcare (excluding the elderly). The United States carries a deficit that has the potential to enslave us to foreign creditors. Education initiatives under Arne Duncan have failed. Going to college now means taking on years and years of debt.
But this isn’t a 1% or 47% or 99% problem. These are American problems. They effect the lazy (people who are absolutely dependent on government) and the motivated. The rich and the poor. Black and white. Gay and straight. The only way these issues will be successfully addressed is by unilateral bipartisanship. So to say that the Republicans or Democrats should speak for everyone in the nation is absolute nonsense.
Each has a voice that needs to be heard, but in a tone of mutual respect and understanding. I voted for Obama because he championed the middle class and under the Romney-Ryan plan the middle class are individuals and families that make $200K-$250K. 3% of Americans make $250K or more and to say that that demographic should make decisions for the entire nation would be a mistake.
Mitt Romney built his career in private equity. While heading Bain Capital he had one responsibility; to turn a profit for investors by any means necessary. Even if that meant closing a factory, siphoning profits from pension plans, bringing companies into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, or outsourcing jobs. I understand that; its part of American capitalism. But if elected, his new investors become the American public. What jobs would he outsource or what factories would he close so that a profit could be turned for the 3% calling the shots? The United States government is not the private sector. He can’t force AT&T to bring call centers back from India or DOW Chemical to open a new refining plant. That was his fatal campaign flaw; believing that the government could be run like a hedge fund.
