With Mitt Romney about 300 votes away from officially clinching the GOP nomination, attentions have turned to his probable fight against Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential election. Although each candidate has both merits and faults, the experience and successes Obama has attained in his first term as president have better qualified him to maintain the position than the minimal experience Romney has obtained as a one term governor.
As in any election, both campaign strategies will feature a large amount of credit claiming. With so much economic uncertainty, voters will fixate on the economic successes and failures of both candidates. According to the United States GDP Growth Rate study, during Obama’s first term as president the nation has experienced continuous economic growth since July 2009 [Trading Economics]. According to he United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States added two hundred thousand jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent. April was the seventh consecutive month in which the United States created at least one hundred thousand jobs. The continued economic growth and the steady decline of the unemployment rate have come when most needed, and both are a credit to Obama’s ability to handle the nation’s economy.
One of Romney’s greatest strengths in the upcoming elections is his past economic success while Governor of Massachusetts. When he took office, the state had a budget gap of almost $3 billion, which he was able to eliminate in his four years in office without raising the sales tax or the income tax. Although both candidates have had certain successes, Obama’s occurred on a national level. If Romney is elected president, his economic policies will vary greatly from those currently in place. A sudden change in economic policy is an unnecessary risk for an economy in an upward trend.
In regards to foreign affairs, Obama is significantly more experienced. In Dec. 2011 Obama officially ended America’s occupation in Iraq, one that has cost 4,487 lives and lasted nine years. Along with pulling out of Iraq, Obama has created a timetable outlining the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by 2014. His biggest foreign success was the death of Osama bin Laden. In May 2011, Obama ordered Seal Team Six to kill the very man who had eluded capture for nine years and had orchestrated the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Sept. 2001. Despite Romney’s speeches on foreign affairs, Obama has a record that Romney can’t compete with.
Although his term in office as Governor was relatively successful, Romney does not have the political experience needed to navigate the treacherous political and economic conditions currently faced by the United States. Turbulent foreign affairs and domestic issues regarding immigration laws and gay rights will accompany the uncertain economy as key issues the president will face during the next four years, and it is imperative they are handled by an experienced politician.
America’s economy is growing, American troops are coming home as The United States begins to pull out of the Middle East. Obama has had success in areas Romney has no experience in and has proven himself a worthy contender of Romney’s economic knowledge and skill. When America needed a strong leader, Obama showed himself beyond competent. Obama should be reelected as president to further American progress in all areas, be it economic or social development.
Al Smith • Jul 20, 2012 at 12:14 am
Brittany,
I can’t blame you for your views as you are just repeating what you hear and read from the mainstream media. I hope with time, you will learn that good journalism requires real research. You need to get information from multiple points of view and actually determine what is true and what is not true. It takes time, but I am sure you are too busy to actually do some research.
I’d like to help save you some time by providing information that is available if you actaully look for it. I will use this information to address each of your paragraphs.
1. Romney currently has more experience and successes now than Obama had when running in 2008. If you think Obama did a good job because of experience, it logically follows that Romney will do even better in his first term. Your illogical argument is analogous to saying a 9th grade student that got a D in calculus is better suited to take calculus class than the incoming freshman that got an A in 8th grade algebra.
2. Under Obama, GDP has grown at an annual rate of 2.8%. Sounds good until you compare it to the previous 8 years where the growth rate was 4.9%. Hmmm. And if you really understood unemployment numbers, you would know that the number of people underemployed or unemployed or that just flat out quit looking for a job is well over 20% and has increased every year since Obama took office. And the 100,000 monthly jobs created sounds good until you find out that over 125,000 people enter the workforce every month. In other words, more than 25,000 people were added to the real unemployment numbers every month.
3. Based on paragraph 2, a change of economic policies is not risky at all and is actually needed.
4. See response to paragraph 1. The same thing applies here. And as far as OBL, you really don’t understand Obama’s view of the military. The actions taken to capture OBL were in spite of Obama.
5. Once again, see response to paragraph 1. If you understood anything about the office of president, you would know that the Cabinet and staff that supports the president are the most important aspect in determining the success of the president. The experience of the people supporting Romney are likely much better suited for success than Obama’s choices. There is not enough space here to fully discus this.
6. You repeat the same misleading points from your first 5 paragraphs here. Based on the information I have provided above, Obama has clearly shown his imcompetance.
And if the above discussion is not enough to convince you, the following facts from the recent news clearly point out additional reasons why Obama is the worst candidate in the upcoming 2012 presidential election.
1. Weekly jobless claims shot up to 386,000
2. In 2007, 1 out of every 300 homeowners 75 or older was in foreclosure … today that number is 1 in 30 … 10 times worse
3. Factory activity contracted for a third month in a row
4. Home sales dropped 5.4% … the biggest drop in nine months
5. Retail sales dropped for the third straight month
6. Consumer confidence continues to drop and 63% of Americans believe we are now in a recession
7. U.S. business inventories increased by .3% and sales dropped .1%.
8. Food prices are skyrocketing … many items increased nearly 10% in 2011
9. More Americans are getting federal disability than jobs
10. Food stamp numbers are at an all time high … they have increased by 50% since Obama took office (these numbers also point out that your 8.1 unemployment number is meaningless)
The number one issue for the upcoming election is the economy. Obama has clearly demonstrated a lack of competence in improving it. Getting people back to work is the number one priority. That will not occur when taxes are increasing and when more regulations are being foisted on the US population.