The Survey Says...

Well, we have completed the debate cycle for the 2012 presidential election.  We've heard about domestic policy, foreign policy and everything in between.  So what does the score card look like after three head to head meetings of the candidates for our next President of these United States?  Survey says...Obama 2 - Romney 1.  Romney had Obama on the ropes in round one.  Obama held his own and edged out Romney in round two.  Obama got the KO in round three.  See CNN's poll results for each debate.

Most Americans are neither well informed nor interested in foreign policy discussions, making the final debate not as popular as the other two.  Plus, the debate went head to head with Monday Night Football and game seven of the National League Championship series.  If you didn't watch the last debate you missed something special.  Romney said he had some "zingers" planned for the first round.  We heard about "trickle down government" and the "economy tax" on the middle class  Well, Obama had some hay makers in store for us in round three.  We got gems like "The 1980's are calling and they want their foreign policy back" and "In 1917 we had more horses and bayonets too!".

Beyond the war of words, let's get down to the substance.  President Obama has been the Commander-In-Chief for the past four years.  During his first term the war in Iraq was brought to conclusion, Osama bin Laden was assassinated, and the draw down of troops in Afghanistan has begun.  When Obama first ran for the Office of the Presidency recognizing his weaknesses in the foreign policy arena, he chose Joe Biden as his running mate.  Biden's experience in foreign policy includes his long tenure as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  This was and continues to be an asset to the Obama administration.  By comparison, Governor Romney with no foreign policy experience chose a running mate with an equally insufficient foreign policy resume.

When given the opportunity to detail his foreign policy platform Romney spent half of the time agreeing with the actions and policies implemented by the Obama administration and the other half telling us about his experience as Governor of Massachusetts with a touch of psycho-babble added in (witness the "I love teachers" diatribe).  Does serving as the governor of a small New England state that shares no borders with any other country really qualify as foreign policy experience?  Hell, you can't even see Russia from there!  Jesse Ventura was once the governor of Minnesota, which shares a border with Canada.  Presidential?  Probably not.

Americans need to develop a deeper comprehension concerning the position our nation occupies in the community of nations and among many actors on the international stage in the 21st century   We do not wield the hegemony we did in the decades following the Second World War.  The bi-polar detente that existed during the Cold War no longer defines the background of our relationships with other countries.  The rise of new world powers such as India and China, the actions of rogue nation states and their ruling elite, and the impact of zealous ideologies espoused by terrorist organizations have forever changed the manner in which we engage other nations.  These realities require a foreign policy that combines measured diplomacy with national security.  We will learn that the most powerful military in the world is no match for the convictions of extremists who do not measure their victory in terms of regime change or occupying forces.

So, it's up to you now to vote.  Early voting and absentee voting began this week.  To find out more information about early voting and absentee ballots please visit www.canivote.org  This is a much better option for many people than waiting in line on election day.  Do NOT get discouraged.  Let your voice be heard.  GO VOTE!

Who Will Win?

This post is a little less timely than I would have liked, but I took a rest to visit with some friends during last night's debate and had to put my DVR to good use.  Fortunately, my wife has left some space on the DVR for just this purpose.  I also want to thank all the people who read my random rants that reminded me I was shirking my responsibilities to keep the verbal tirade coming.  Thank you for your thoughts and your comments.  Whether you agree with me or not, I appreciate your interest.

Clash Of The Titans

I read a few articles in the local paper and saw some of the post debate coverage in social media and on television, so I'm not going to rehash those things.  I'm not even going to select and expound upon which candidate I think came out the winner from last night's debate.  Instead, I would challenge you to think about the questions that were asked by the audience and decide which of them was of particular interest to you.

Of course there were some good topical areas covered including: the economy, tax policy, the national deficit, healthcare, equal pay for equal work, immigration policy, national security, assault weapons bans, education, and foreign trade.  I'm pretty passionate about all these things and I feel like many of these issues are close to me personally and professionally.  My wife is a law student who is interested in immigration and labor law.  I'm a government employee that serves an agency mission which focuses on worker training, workplace safety, and the security of the employed and the unemployed.

Despite all the public policy issues that were addressed last night and my or your position on those issues, the question I found most revealing about who will win this election was the last one asked.  The last audience member to address the candidates asked, and I'm paraphrasing, what the candidates' thought the biggest misconception that the public has of each of them.

Governor Romney answered first and responded that he cares about 100% of the American people, his passion comes from his belief in the same God we all believe in, and he wants to use his experience in the private sector to bring America back to prosperity.  President Obama responded that he doesn't believe that big government can solve all the problems that exist, he believes in the free enterprise model tempered by an equity standard and that Americans have a serious choice in this election to between two different perspectives on social issues.  The biggest difference in these answers is the level of integrity that each candidate has.

President Obama has a record of four years in the White House that Governor Romney has attempted to utilize to discredit the President and present himself as a better option for the Executive Office.  The reality is, Mr. Romney has a record too which he seems very adverse to being held accountable to.  We have policy statements made by Governor Romney throughout the Republican primary and campaign speeches made by the Romney-Ryan camp in the last several months.  This extant record presents a picture of a man who struggles with his own integrity when has been pressed to defend these positions.  Much of his debate rhetoric contradicts where he stood a few weeks ago.

The integrity issue is brought center stage by the comments of the candidate who when behind closed doors espouses a position of divisiveness the likes of which are simply un-presidential. Can Governor Romney really walk back the statements he made about the 47% of Americans who, as he so eloquently stated, "consider themselves victims, rely on government for their basic needs and who refuse to take personal responsibility for themselves."?  I think not.  A truer picture of the man was presented behind those doors than what we have seen in these debates so far.  His answer to that final question is either a blatant lie or an attempt to deceive the American public.

And the Winner Is...Part II

This evening the Nation had its first and only opportunity to see Vice President Joe Biden go head to head with Congressman Paul Ryan.  This event was certainly a departure from last week's Presidential debate.  Many individuals, myself included, felt Governor Romney took full advantage of the opportunity afforded the challenger in these debates and walked away a "winner".  Tonight was different.  Vice President Biden didn't allow Paul Ryan to play the cards Governor Romney did.  Basically, the incumbent candidate did not spend the entire evening defending four years of public record while the challenger sold a platform of cherry picked  policy positions that poll well with the public, carefully selected from legislation passed during the last four years.  This game plan worked very well for Romney last week.  He was successful at keeping President Obama on the defensive while he presented a revised policy platform that benefited from the flexibility afforded the challenger.  This flexibility included an adoption of the positions most popular with the electorate as "part of my plan" with no additional details.  Brilliant!  We learned Romney now supports everything the majority of Americans like, is against the things that happened in the last four years that America didn't like, and the rest of the details - well that can wait.  You'll find that out once Romney becomes President.

Tonight was different.  Every time Ryan tried to run last week's game plan, Biden ran his defense and went immediately onto the offense.  Ryan was challenged by both the moderator - who was exceptional I may add - and by Biden's commitment to doubling down on the facts.  Every vague policy statement from Congressman Ryan was tempered by the challenge to present details. Congressman Ryan was big on the usual platitudes - American values, peace through strength, and a commitment to prosperity for all.  Ryan and Romney constantly describe the America they want to create, but provide little to no detail on how we are going to get there.  The reality is, the domestic conditions that we currently face in this country will not change on day one, week one, or month one of a new administration.  Without providing the details of "the plan" it's nice of Romney and Ryan to provide their aspirations but that's not a public policy platform - it's a description of an objective without a strategy to get there.

So, yeah - Biden evened the score this evening.  We'll wait to see what happens next week when the Presidential candidates debate foreign policy.  Based on Romney's failed attempts this summer to demonstrate competency on the international stage, I'm pretty confident we'll see what true leadership looks like.