Romney for President

Each of us has strengths and weaknesses -- areas in which we are skilled, strong, or knowledgeable, and areas in which we are not so skilled, strong, or knowledgeable.  If you want a job done well, the key is not to find the best person, but to find the best person for the job.  Even more, the best person for that PARTICULAR job under those PARTICULAR circumstances at that particular time.

I suspect that historians will look kindly upon the Obama Presidency, if for no other reason than that he was the first black President.  Objectively, I believe his Presidency should be viewed as one of the worst in the history of the United States -- not because he is intrinsically a bad person, or a bad President, but because he was uniquely ill-suited for this particular job under these particular circumstances at this particular time.

People will differ on their views of the biggest challenges facing the American President at any precise time, but President Obama has failed on most of them.  Again, not because he is necessarily a bad person, or a bad President, but simply because he was ill-equipped to face those particular challenges.

America, at this time, needed a President who could deal with rising debt and out-of-control spending.  President Obama responded by increasing spending and dramatically increasing the debt.

Most of all, at this time America needed a President who could bring together the deeply polarized and divided populace.  This is contrary to President Obama's personal style.  The number one weapon in his arsenal is to divide, vilify, and blame.  He seems to lack the ability to make a speech without using it as an opportunity to attack those who disagree with him.  Rather than attempting to build consensus and to understand those who oppose him, he attacks them and misrepresents their positions.  He is considered by many -- on both sides of the political spectrum -- to have been the most divisive, polarizing President in American history.  This is not necessarily a bad thing -- but it was precisely the opposite of what was needed NOW.

Four years ago, as a candidate, Barack Obama seemed to understand what was needed, promising a new era of bipartisanship and transparency, and even vowing that all legislation would be published on the internet three days before it was passed.  Instead, we have Obamacare, passed so quickly that not a single person even a chance to read through the entire bill before voting on it.  Obamacare, President Obama's flagship "accomplishment", passed at a time when the country was desperate for more jobs, is perhaps the largest piece of job-killing legislation ever passed in America.  This is not to say Obamacare is without merit -- it may slightly improve the health insurance system -- but it was the wrong legislation for this particular moment in history.  Perhaps ten years ago, or ten years from now, it would have been the right thing to do.  It was the wrong thing to do NOW.

If President Obama is re-elected, I will view it as the triumph of misrepresentation over honesty, of divisiveness over unity, of brute force over consensus, and of anger over hope.  Some might claim that is precisely what is needed at this time -- crush the opposition, using whatever means necessary -- but I believe they are wrong.

In many Presidential elections, the voters find themselves displeased with all of the candidates, and ultimately choosing the lesser of evils.  It has been many election cycles since I voted FOR a candidate rather than AGAINST the poorer candidates.  Finally, in Mitt Romney, I believe I have found a candidate I can vote FOR.  Mitt Romney may not be the best person ever to run for President, and he may not objectively be a better person than Barack Obama, but he is the best person for this particular job under these particular circumstances at this particular time.

America needs a uniter rather than a divider, a job-builder rather than a job-killer, and someone who will cut spending and debt rather than expand it.  Mitt Romney is skilled, strong, and knowledgeable in exactly those areas that America needs at this moment in time.

No one can predict the future.  Perhaps the challenges facing America at this time will be too much even for Mitt Romney.  I know they have been too much for Barack Obama.

Postscript:  This will be my last blog entry posted prior to the 2012 Presidential election.  I have not yet found the words to write about the Obama administration's response to the Benghazi attacks of September 11, 2012.  IF President Obama is re-elected, I believe he will either be impeached or forced to resign over his role in the response to the Benghazi attacks.  If President Obama is removed from office, Joe Biden would become President.  I cannot predict the future, and I cannot say whether Joe Biden would be equal to the challenges facing the American President.

Truth is complicated.