The First Debate: Romney Rises to the Occasion, Obama Deflates Expectations

They told us things wouldn’t change much. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday  night, we heard it from the pundits, and we heard it from the news media. The debates would not alter the campaign narrative, it was all an expectations game. Both candidates talked each other up while lowing expectations for themselves. The right talked about how Romney would be on offensive, and would come prepared with some zingers. On the left the discourse swirled around Obama’s experience and incumbent advantage. It was accepted that debates would be much of the same, a continuation of the races that had been run over the past 18 months. It would be a night of political theater in America, with little implication to the fate of the election. Then Wednesday night came, there was a debate, and now the political climate here in the United States has exploded into another dimension.
The Mitt Romney that walked on stage Wednesday night was a entirely different Mitt than the others we have seen throughout the decade. The Mitt Romney that walked  on stage last night was more prepared, more fluid, more aggressive, more confident, and more dominant than has ever been seen. Gone was the Romney of September, the faltering, distant, careless, Tea Party pleaser we had come to know since the primary. Absent was Romney of Bain Capital, the business killing, money grabbing, tax evading, venture capitalist of yesteryear. No, last night we did not even see the the robot or empty suit versions of Mitt Romney. The man who stood to face the president in the first debate last night, was a man that wanted the presidency. Romney came out of the gates swinging, poised and aggressive, and did not let up until the ringing of the last bell ceased. Over the course of 90 minuets, he reinvented and reignited a failing campaign. The policies he has been promoting for past 18 months, those were out the window. Romneycare, a healthcare program he passed during is time as Governor of Massachusetts, was suddenly his own once more. Romney maintained is aloof reputation with details, but offered us something else instead. He offered the vitality and the fire that his campaign has been desperate for. Last night Romney was a man of the people, a man of America. He brought the economy squarely down on the head of the president, and made Obamacare out be pure evil. He defended defense spending and denounced China. Romney ran up and down Obama with prevarications, contradictions, and zingers. Devoid of truth it was, but weak it was not. This is political theater remember, and to the American public Mitt Romney won this one in a convincing manner.
Obama was left to stand very alone and seemingly detached on stage. There was no political eloquence, the gifted orator of 2008 was so far gone. Behind the podium stood not only the president, but the presidency. All of the failures, the disconnect, the sellouts the uninspiring four years was compressed into his 90 minutes of debate. There was very little feeling of a man fighting for reelection. Excitement and appeal were non-existent as Obama spouted the numbers and facts behind his presidency. As Romney boldly addressed the nation, Obama was fading into the background. When the President spoke, the words he said were not sharp, nor did he directly address the viewing audience. As Mitt Romney ran away from everything he as built his platform on, Obama only saw it necessary to justify the centrist shift that has brought about his decreased popularity. The President and his administration abandoned many of his first term supporters when he made the shift after winning election in 2008. To many his presidency has been a disappointment, a mere shadow of what it was promised to be. Obama was not without opportunities to be competitive last night. Mitt Romney presented them one after another in the form of policy abandonment and lies. He walked on the president because Obama failed to stand up to his opponent. Briefly during debate on taxes Obama took the offensive, but soon slipped back into his submissive state. There was no mention of the 47 percent, no mention of Romney’s abysmal ratings in the state where he served as governor, and no mention of Bain Capital. The Obama administration has spent the morning rebutting and fact checking Romney, but it is too little to late. The time to call out Mitt Romney was last night, and Obama failed to do that. A failure that echoes the past four years, and a failure that will mark his presidency if he can not turn things around.
Two things needed to happen in Wednesdays debate to change the state of the race. Obama needed to fail to show up, and Mitt Romney needed to come on better than ever. Against all odds, that ultimatum became reality last night. Romney won the debate without question, while at the same time introducing a new more moderate version of himself to the viewing audience. President Obama produced a fantastically underwhelming effort. When the dust had settled Romney has done all he could and Obama had not done enough. Mitt Romney has renewed the support that was slipping from his campaign. The GOP and it’s super PACs will now be with the Romney Ryan campaign for the duration of the race. Obama has not thrown away the election, but he has assured that it will much closer, much nastier, and much more hard-fought than it ever had to be.

By Evan Lonergan

A Divided America vs. A United America

From teachers strikes, to foreign policy, to class war, it has been quite the week on the campaign trail. As last week came to a close, the horizon was looking grim for the Obama Administration. The Chicago Teachers Union was on strike all week, and are set to continue into this week. Mitt Romney wasted no time springing into action, criticizing Obama’s lack of stance on the matter, claiming that Obama was not in support of the teachers or their union. Apparently, the Romney campaign was vague about their own support of teachers and unions. That news comes as no surprise, as the Romney campaign is know for proving minimal information on its exact policies. Meanwhile, sporadic violence and rioting broke out across the globe, including the attacks on US embassies that killed three American citizens. Early responses to those attacks were largely criticized by the right as being to sympathetic. Official White House responses later on, more forcefully condemned the violence. All in all, not the best of weeks for the Obama Administration. Several people I conversed with over the weekend voiced concerns about the negative impact those effects might have on the election. It was clear Romney was gong to have new material for the debates approaching in early October, that is until the turning of tables that occurred on monday.
Romney was speaking to high income donors at an “intimate fundraiser” on monday afternoon, when he decided to tell them how he really feels. According to Mitt, “the 49 percent of americans that don’t pay income tax will vote for Obama no matter what, and it is not his job to worry about them.” We all know that is sentiment is held by a substantial group of people in this country, Romney is just the first to express it so frankly. Both sides immediately took issue with Romney’s statements. The Obama Administration has been using it to their advantage since early this morning, while more the republican party quietly distance themselves from the Romany campaign. Romany has essentially declared a class war, and is already experiencing a backlash for the statements. As a student, I am a member of that “49 percent” Romney doesn’t care about. I had reservations about Mitt Romney before these developments, and now he has confirmed them for me. Mitt Romney is a man who embodies individualism in America and everything that is wrong with that ideology. Romney will argue to his deathbed that he is a self made American success story. Well, he is an American success story, but only at the cost of his fellow Americans. Romney started off wealthy whether he will admit it or not, and he will die wealthy. Romney’s values have no place in the government we need right now. This country needs to move forward together, it does not need division and individualism at the cost of others. I will vote for Obama in November because he is the best of two candidates. Obama has a far way to go, but much like my favorite president(Lincoln) he believes in a country unified. That is something I can stand behind.  Giving up on my fellow countrymen, is something I will never stand behind!

By Evan Lonergan

Paul Ryan’s Hollow Words

Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has had his moment in the spotlight at the Republican national convention, a moment that was relied on heavily to give the Romney campaign some wind in its sails.  Ryan gave the speech he was expected to give, with its forced nostalgia and its righteous claims. He was a politically risky choice of running mate, but he has delivered some sense of needed urgency into the Romney campaign. He has delivered to the republicans what some of them want to hear, and has needled the democrats with his speech. Ryan has proved himself excellent at communicating just enough to make his platform seem authentic, without getting himself or Romney into hot water. Below are some of the best examples of this rhetoric from his speech.

“After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we’ll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.”

This is a critical section of the speech. Ryan identifies and places blame the Obama administration with the phrase divide up the wealth”, a phrase the GOP cringes at. Why would Romney want to divide up the Wealth? That would mean he might have to lose insignificant amounts of his own fantastic personal wealth. No, what Romney wants is tax fairness. Fairness is a relative term here, and in this context means to stay the same. Currently the greater your wealth the less your taxes, perfect for Romney, Ryan, and the companies the finance them. Then Ryan promises to put government back on the side of people who create jobs, a dangerous promise. Romney and Ryan believe in a top down economy. What that means is that the big businesses, the fortune 500 companies are what keeps our economy alive and well. Unfortunately today there is too much corruption to rely on those companies to do their jobs and support out nation. If its left to Romney and Ryan that corruption will go unregulated, and there will be no trickle down for the bottom of our economy.

“In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less.  That is enough.  The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.”

Here Ryan identifies another problem, federal spending. He speaks of both administrations accountable for the problem but only names Obama, leaving the current administration to take the brunt of the blame. Ryan knows the Bush administration caused the problem, but will let slip for a chance to get a leg up in the election. Ryan goes on to promise to keep federal spending low through government limitation, but does not give any details, a trademark of his platform. That is because the details are not something people would like to hear. Romney and Ryan have purposed some of that saving through budget cuts for education. That means more neglect of a failing public school system, a continuing rise in the price of college educations and cuts to Pell grants for college students.

“By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration.  A challenger must stand on his own merits.  He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president.”

“We’ve had very different careers – mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business – that’s a good thing.”

A true statement when presented by itself, but not when applied to the Romney Ryan campaign. Romney is a flip flop candidate, a placeholder for the GOP. He has no merits to stand on, other than a massive personal wealth. A wealth that was acquired through aggressive and reckless capitalism, that left a wake of debt in its trail. Mitt Romney grew up with money and since the first taste of it, it has been greed ever since. He has shown us his ability to destroy jobs and move millions of dollars into offshore accounts. He has shown us his ability to create a personal fortune through his private sector business success Bain Capital. A firm that was part of the corruption and irresponsibility on Wall Street that led to a crushing wold debt. Romney’s personal wealth is not a merit, and it does not make him worthy to serve in the office of president.

“We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead.”

Romney and Ryan have been ducking tough issues as long as there have been questions asked. Their platform appeals to people on the surface, but the truth, the red meat, only appeals to a select few. That is the way Romney and Ryan will have it. If it furthers the conquests of them and their allies, why would they share it with us. They would rather avoid giving all the details until they take office, and then they will rape and pillage and leave us in the cold in four short years.

“We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility.”

Show me what you can do don’t tell me what you can do. Romney and Ryan have spent their entire campaign shifting blame on the Obama administration. They point fingers on unemployment, the economy, and Obamacare. They will accept no blame for the role their party played in the recession, and they will not speak of the role Romney personally played in the economic downturn. Why would they change one elected?

Paul Ryan’s speech is not without truth or merit. There are moments when he is almost speaking from a place of authenticity, but his carefully managed rhetoric is conniving and deceitful in places. There are falsities and prevarications in the Romney Ryan platform and they need to be held accountable this week at the RNC. We cannot accept leadership without a careful analysis of the words and actions the candidates put before us.

By Evan Lonergan