Romney and Obama: The Pluses and Minuses

In 2008, Barack Obama became the forty-fourth president of the United States of America after beating republican nominee John McCain. “Obama beat McCain by 52 percent to 46 percent, and he could realistically claim a mandate with nearly two-thirds of the Electoral College. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had 349 electoral votes compared to 173 for McCain” (1). Needless to say, Obama’s victory over McCain was a solid one. When the 2012 election comes, will there be any Republican nominee who can compete with Obama, therefore making him a one-term-president? Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, is the man that could beat Obama in the 2012 presidential election. Though he didn’t become the Republican nominee four years ago, he received publicity as a serious contender. While Romney does have his flaws, I believe that he has a chance of defeating Obama next November.

People know that the last few years haven’t gone too well for Obama. First of all, he introduced a health care reform (known by most as “Obamacare”) that many people seem to have condemned as too socialist for this country that has grown to the global power it is largely through democracy and a free-market (capitalist) system. Also, since Obama took office, the national debt has risen by around 3 trillion dollars as reported by CBS on October 18, 2010. (2) In an interview (below), Mitt Romney mentioned a few of the things that he feels Obama has done that are unfavorable; he calls it “the Obama misery index.” Though Obama doesn’t seem to have done anything that would make him an easy take-down, I believe that these issues will play a role in the upcoming election.

Though President Obama has his weaknesses, Romney does have his own as well. For instance, Romney developed a helath care plan in Massachusetts that Republicans feel is similar to Obama's plan. (3) Also, in 2002, Romney stated, "...when asked, 'will I preserve and protect a woman's right to choose,' I make unequivocal answer: yes." ((4) see video in link) Having pro-choice views is not generally something a politician seeking to become the Republican presidential nominee would do. While this is a negative, it becomes even more questionable when he changed his views altogether just a few years later. In 2006, in response to the question, "what's your position on abortion," he said "I am pro-life." ((5) see video in link) This blatant 'flip-flop' in stance on debatably one of the most sensitive topics in the political world is disconcerting to voters; on what other issue might he have changed his stance while they weren't looking? I believe that these flaws possessed by Romney as a contender will prove a bit of a hindrance to him in the 2012 election.

What is it that makes Romney seem to have a leg up on President Obama for the upcoming election? A Gallup poll that posed the question: "If Barack Obama runs for re-election in 2012, in general, are you more likely to vote for Obama or for the Republican Party's candidate for president?" The findings of this poll show that even though 44% of those polled plan to vote for President Obama again, a very close 42% appear to be prepared to vote for the Republican candidate. (6) Also, in a New Hampshire poll, Romney turned out to have an 8-percentage-point lead over Obama. ((7) see video in link) This simply proves that Romney is a legitimate contender. In addition to these minor victories, Romney has very solid areas of expertise that could rally the financially minded conservatives who are sick of the seemingly socialist views of Obama: economics and business. A New York times article (8) said,

"Mr. Romney is presenting himself as a ready-to-lead executive, gambling that a fluency in economic matters distinguishes him from other candidates...Mr. Romney makes the case that the halting economic recovery provides a compelling rationale that he is the strongest candidate to create jobs and take on President Obama."

Sometimes it seems that what really gives one politician an edge over another in politics is: which of the two has done the least amount of damage in the past? I believe that that will be a determining factor in the upcoming election. Above, I showed a couple examples of the things Obama has done that have left a bad taste in the mouths of voters, if you will. After that, I did the same for Romney. It seems pretty apparent that though both men have their "dirt" (as all politicians do), Romney has a lot less of it. America wanted change, and Obama sure gave it to them; he's worked on changing the health care system to a socialized medicine program which many Americans have shown that they don't like, and he changed the federal debt issue significantly for the worse. During the upcoming years of financial recovery after a past few years, what America needs is an economically minded president with a clean record. I believe that Mitt Romney is that man: the man who will defeat President Obama in the 2012 election.

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