As the specter of the November election looms ever larger, the usual statistics juggling is in full force—witness both sides scurrying to find ways to spin job and other economic numbers. Asides include Mitt’s recent overseas visits that left many with a big “huh?” Or, “Did he really say that?” (Romney is clearly out of his element in foreign affairs), and a president who has yet to find a way to lead the nation out of the malaise we’re now so mired in. So, who do I vote for? Romney (presumptive nominee)—the guy who believes corporations are “people?” The guy who lent his son 10 million dollars to start his own investment firm? The guy who put in place for Massachusetts, the very health plan his party now decries? The guy offering no other tangible economic plans whatsoever? The guy who represents the party that was in power during the dismantling and tanking of our economy in the days of GWB? The guy who is trying to convince citizens to vote against their own economic interests while shielding his own economic prosperity from public scrutiny?
I’m inclined to give Barack Obama a second term. Why? The 50 million without health insurance, the foiled retirement plans of people who’ve saved and trusted their whole lives that they would be able to live decently, the betrayal of so-called “free market” solutions have come to bear, the continual out-sourcing of American jobs to overseas businesses, and the scattered values of the GOP, i.e. tea partiers, right-wing evangelists, etc, have left me feeling that if I’m not part of their ideology, then I’m part of a new-to-be-disenfranchised minority. I believe in this nation. I believe that we all have a place and purpose in it. I believe that what unites us needs to be stronger than what divides us.
