Obama faces a tough challenge ahead, which he acknowledged.
Many Americans are dissatisfied with the slow pace of the “change we can
believe in” he promised when he came to power, a recurring issue that seems to
raise its ugly head after any politician’s term in power. However, Obama
defended his policies, saying that the country had been slowly recovering from a deep recession and pledging more work for economic improvement if re-elected. He said
that his Republican opponent would “turn back the clock,” positioning himself
as the candidate that would continue to labour down the hard road to recovery.
Politically, Obama has been unlucky enough to have to grapple with a Republican
House of Representatives since the 2010 mid-terms, making the government seem slow and ineffective as
gridlock occurred: the infamous debt-ceiling crisis has eroded public popularity for
Obama, leading some to believe that the economic recovery Obama has presided
over has been too slow to benefit the majority of Americans, and has done not enough to tackle America's massive debt (now standing at approximately $15 trillion).
In a sports arena, to some 14,000 loud and enthusiastic supporters,
he declared:
“This is not just another election, this is a make or break moment for the middle class, and we have been through too much to turn back now.”
Multi-millionaire Mitt Romney, on the other hand, believes
in a “smaller, smarter and simpler government”, as his campaign website says.
He declared Obama’s time in office as a time of “broken promises and
ineffective leadership”, proposing greater austerity measures and a return to, in his
campaign’s words, a “deeply conservative return to policies that have served
our nation well.” However, the businessman has been under heavy criticism in the
mainstream media, the most well-known stories covering his religious and
financial background. Obama stated that Romney had learned the “wrong lessons”
when working as a CEO, trying to position himself on the side of the people
against the image of Romney as a pro-business candidate for the rich: “Corporations aren’t people. People are people!”
Obama exclaimed, making reference to an early quip by Romney that, “Corporations
are people, my friend!”
This is ahead of the National Conventions: the Republican’s
on the 27th August, in Florida, and the Democrat’s on the 3rd
September, in North Carolina. This will then be followed up by an all-out
battle until the general election on the 6th November. It is
undeniable that this will be a close race: Obama will be able to awaken a lot
of support with his charming charisma and his historical achievements
in office, but many will also turn to the Republican Party, perceiving Obama’s presidency
as a time of “broken promises and ineffective leadership.”
Obama is now up against the very thing that got him elected. A bad economy and a public looking to blame whoever is in power at the moment.
ReplyDeleteTo be sure, it was a lot of bad policy and bad decisions that caused the recession to occur. But Obama has in fact exaggerated the policies, and has attempted to put all the blame on one side of the isle. Blame lies on both sides, but he will not allow this to be part of the discussion.
Romney is wealthy, but much of that wealth comes from doing positive things for the economy. Real research into his time at Bain will demonstrate this to be the case.