In a little more than two weeks, Americans will go to the polls to vote for their President. Held every four years, presidential elections are a ritual as old as the Republic itself. The candidates stress that this is “the election of our lifetimes” and it “cannot be ignored.” This time, they may be right. Why I am supporting Barack Obama for President of the United States in 2012.
The 2012 presidential election is more than a choice between two different candidates – it’s a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the country. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each wish to take the country in a different direction; each holding dear a different set of values. I support Barack Obama’s vision for the country, and strongly believe he is well-suited for a second term as President of the United States.
It’s November 2008. Barack Obama has just been elected President. He promises a bright future for America – hope and change in Washington and throughout the country – while outlining many ambitious goals for his presidency. He promises more cooperation in Washington. America watches in awe – inspired, wanting more.
On the day he is inaugurated as President, Republicans sit around a table in a DC-area restaurant, plotting their strategy for the next four years. It’s really simple: oppose everything Obama stands for – even if it comes at the expense of hard-working Americans and the middle class. Obama’s presidency had been challenged from day one.
Mr. Obama weathered the political and economic storm remarkably well during the first year of his Presidency. He passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus”) and prevented American automakers in Detroit from going bankrupt and bleeding plenty more jobs. He also passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (which fights for equal pay for women in the workplace), among numerous other accomplishments.
Barack Obama’s solid record of smart and balanced progress continued throughout his second term, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“health care reform”) and Wall Street Reform (“Dodd-Frank Bill“), has shown his ability to lead through changing times and new challenges.
On foreign policy, Mr. Obama has shown time and again to be a pragmatist – using smart power to project America’s influence and protect its interests around the world. He brought the Iraq War to a close, but not before training thousands of Iraqis to provide security to their fledgling democracy. He increased America’s presence in Afghanistan through a smart surge that was sorely needed, supported new-found democracy in the Middle East during the Arab Spring, and worked with our NATO allies to provide aid and security in Libya. Most importantly, he killed Osama Bin Laden in a carefully-planned raid in Pakistan – removing one of the most well-known faces of terror and decimating the ranks of Al-Qaeda.
Barack Obama was never going to be able to accomplish everything he set out to do in his first term, especially not with an obstructionist Republican Party opposing everything the President supported. But the important thing is that Mr. Obama has shown a burning desire to make lives better for hard-working Americans and their families, and our troops and veterans at-home and abroad. He is a champion for America, a progressive leader at a time America needs strong leadership.
Mitt Romney has repeatedly proven himself the wrong choice for America. Mr. Romney believes that economic prosperity can be achieved by cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans even more than during the Bush years. He has proposed a 20% across-the-board tax cut for every American, while simultaneously pledging to cut the federal deficit in half. You can’t do both at the same time. It’s mathematically impossible. These Reagan-era, fairy-tale economics did not work over the past decade, and they won’t work now. Mr. Romney is the wrong man for the job.
Mr. Romney’s foreign policy is deeply flawed and is the wrong path for America. He has proposed U.S. military intervention throughout the Middle East – troops on the ground in Syria and the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. These foreign policy challenges must be solved in a more pragmatic way. Mr. Romney is the wrong man for the job.
Barack Obama has been far from a perfect President. There’s plenty of room for improvement. He has yet to tackle reform of our complex, outdated immigration system. He has not fully addressed the dangerous reality of climate change. And he must create many more jobs for Americans across the country who are unemployed and desperately needing to find a good-paying job.
If he is re-elected, Mr. Obama will address a myriad of challenges, including reforming our immigration system, tackling climate change, and simplifying and reforming our byzantine tax code. He will also put America on the path to fiscal responsibility and reduce the ballooning national debt. I am confident Barack Obama will fight for Americans on these and many more issues. Mr. Romney, on the other hand, will take America back to the same failed policies that got his into this economic mess in the first place. America cannot afford that.
Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected to a second term as President of the United States. His past record of pragmatism and smart power is a clear indicator that Mr. Obama will not go down easy, and will not stop fighting for what he believes in – a better America, a more perfect Union, and a more peaceful world.
