So we're only a little bit away from the 2012 Presidential Election here in the United States. While reading some of the evening's stories and news, I see that Governor Romney is still holding strong and some sources even say he is even slightly ahead.
Honestly, I'm a little shocked right now. While obviously the election hasn't occurred yet, its still a little shocking that the race is this close. I would've thought this farce of Governor Romney and Senator Ryan being considered serious contenders would be over this close to the election.
Almost nothing Governor Romney has based his campaign on is true or accurate. He is so unqualified to be President that it is almost laughable he was allowed to run. I mean, a brief run down of some key points:
1: He claims his knowledge and experience of running a private business and the state of Massachusetts give him the keys to improve the economy.
But this isn't true - he did terribly as the Governor of Massachusetts. Mass. went from 15th in the nation for job creation to 47th under his governorship and hasn't recovered yet. He was so unpopular in Mass. that at the end of his first term he had a 35% approval rating and didn't try to run again.
His experience at BAIN Capital isn't worth much either - BAIN Capital (and Governor Romney by extension) were essentially number manipulators. They bought companies, squeezed as much profit as possible out of them by investing other people's money (almost never their own) then firing/moving jobs overseas/making them take out loans and then forcing companies who couldn't survive to declare bankruptcy and took whatever they could from the remains. Or if the company succeeded taking their share and leaving. Hate to break it to you, but you can't do this with a government.
2: He has little foreign policy experience.
Governor Romney has little to no foreign policy experience. The few times he has tried he has embarrassed himself pretty badly (as our friends in Europe will more than remember) and as pointed out in the third Presidential debate seems to have a pretty dated world-view; considering that he thinks Russia is a bigger foe than Iran, China, North Korea etc.
3: His economic plan as well as Senator Ryan's doesn't make sense, and is not mathematically possible in the way they have described.
His plan to give 20% tax cut but still somehow make up $5 trillion dollars through deductions doesn't make sense, especially since he says he won't raise taxes on anyone. But how do you cut enough deductions to make up for $5 trillion without cutting something that essentially winds up being a tax hike? (IE: The Deduction for Mortgages)
Answer: You can't. Its not mathematically possible. And this is before you factor in the purposes $2 trillion dollar increase in defense spending.
Also, it should be noted that he didn't raise taxes that much while Governor.....but he did impose plenty of new "fees" that essentially acted as taxes.
4: His stances on social policies are hard to pin down, though what can be pinned down is disturbing.
Governor Romney has been extremely dodgy about thing involving social policies, but he apparently doesn't supported Equal Pay for Equal Work, he is on the record as being staunchly against Roe V. Wade (and with the potential to appoint 2-3 Supreme Court Justices, he may get his way on that ruling) and has been caught talking about what he thinks about a good portion of the country (his 47% remarks).
5: He can't hold a consistent position to save his life.
This should be one of the biggest things, since it ties in with all the rest. Since the start of the campaign, Governor Romney has reversed position on practically every single issue imaginable - like the health care plan he made and which "Obamacare" is based off of - to just last week going from calling President Obama's foreign policy a failure to agreeing with everything President Obama has done. How can someone who can't hold a solid position be trusted with the office of the most powerful country on the planet?
And this is just a little bit.
I mean, I don't agree with a lot of what President Obama has done, but I don't see how in comparison Governor Romney could ever be considered a better choice than the current President. Voting for someone because "I don't like this guy" even though the other guy is very clearly a bad choice doesn't make sense - after, better the devil you know, right?