Next week, we will have the opportunity to again shape history by choosing the next president. Given the social, political and economic challenges of our time, selecting a candidate with the skill and determination to confront these challenges head-on is critical. Only one candidate has consistently reassured me that he can effectively lead America to a brighter future: Barack Obama.
As we near the end of President Obama’s first term, it’s important to remember that many of the challenges America faces today were inherited from a Republican administration: crushing debt, two foreign wars, a crippled economy and frozen credit.
After four years under President Obama, unemployment is down. According to Brooks Jackson of factcheck.org, “All of the 4 million jobs lost during his first 13 months in office have now been regained, plus about 300,000 more.” Of course, much work remains to be done. But President Obama has put forth solutions only to be stifled by an unprecedented Republican front that seems more intent on perpetuating divisiveness than solving America’s ills.
Obama opponents claim that Romney’s experience at Bain Capital makes him the type of business-savvy, problem-solving executive we need in the White House. However, Bain engages in a practice known as private equity, more commonly called “vulture capitalism,” which accrues wealth via leveraged buyouts. Romney’s “smart choices” include buying companies with good credit, stripping companies of their executives, paring their workforce and shipping American jobs overseas. I stand with the president when he said that Gov. Romney is “the last person who is going to get tough on China.” Mitt did make some smart choices, but for his own pocketbook, not for the American worker.
The president has consistently supported policies that promote equality for all and reinforce individual freedoms: Equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, a woman’s right to choose and affordable healthcare for all Americans. Mitt Romney can’t decide where he stands. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy said of Gov. Romney during a senatorial campaign: “I am pro-choice. My opponent is multiple choice.”
I don’t have enough time to illustrate how poorly constructed Romney’s policies are and how often he reverses them. In politics, too much conviction can be encumbering. In Mitt’s case, not enough can leave you looking like a human windsock.
Are we going to elect a shiftless puppet of special interests or re-elect a man of the people who knows what it is like to struggle and to face the challenges of average Americans? I am going to vote for the latter, for our future, for President Barack Obama.
