The presidential campaign of 2012 is certain to go down in history as a close and expensive race. The polls show President Barack Obama and the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, in a dead heat.
Romney to date has more money than Obama. Obama is spending, Romney is holding. Television stations will march to the bank with their new clients, thankful for the election year of 2012.
A recent Chicago Tribune editorial titled “A Race to the Bottom,” points out that both candidates are missing the point and indeed they are.
The Obama team has boxed Romney on the show-and-tell of his income tax returns. They have turned his business success into criminal-like behavior, but Romney has done nothing wrong.
His income tax return is that of a wealthy man and it does not look like the average American…and so what? Whoever voted for a president because of his income tax return?
Republican Romney attacks Obama’s record, but does not present his own presidential agenda. Obamacare is based in Romneycare – the major difference is Romney’s health plan was for the state of Massachusetts while Obama’s is for the United States of America, and a Supreme Court decision has made it acceptable.
The American public, at large, is not pleased with the candidates. They are talking to each other personally, but missing mainstream America. The campaigns are too long and by Election Day, enough already. It’s like the political soap opera is over. Mr. Apathy is winning the election, because the majority of the public is not voting.
Both candidates would do well to discuss the issues and the issues only, please. The unspoken Obama question is President Ronald Regan’s winning one: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”
The answer for most is no, particularly the middle class. What do you do to grow and sustain the middle class as the stimulus was done for the auto industry and the Wall Street bankers? How do we restore America’s small business community? Where is the middle-class stimulus? President Obama has done much, but it is a well-kept secret.
What is the small business agenda? How do small businesses cope, survive and grow when they do not have access to capital? Where is the startup seed money? What can the government do on gun control, to prevent the random mass massacres? What can government put in place for people losing their homes? What about the quality and expense of education at every level?
Both candidates would do well to get to the heart of the American public. People are hurting as the economy changes and as technology becomes more advanced.
Black America is suffering at every single level, yet it seems to be a taboo subject to mention it while we have a Black president.
The problems of Black America are worsening; the employment rate is high; Black youth violence across the land, particularly in Obama’s Chicago backyard, is out of control; American labor is too expensive.
Jobs are being exported, automation is alleviating simple labor, soldiers return home to become homeless, and the beat goes on and on. These are the questions people are asking seeking presidential answers to.
These are the average American issues that people on the ground want answered, but both presidential candidates are so high off the ground that they appear out of touch. Their messaging is out of touch with John Q. Public.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans polled for a just released Knights of Columbus-Marist survey say they are “mostly frustrated” by the current tone of political discourse.
A majority of them – 56 percent – believe political campaigns lack civility and respect, and 66 percent believe candidates spend more time attacking their opponents than talking about issues.
“The American people want and deserve civility and a conversation on the issues rather than the personal vilification of political opponents,” Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in a statement.
Dems Taking Blacks For Granted
The Black community has been taken for granted by the Obamas. The romance, the historical moment, the pride of the First African-American President, has come and gone.
Now, where is the beef? We cannot continuously be told to wait for the next time. The time is now and the here is today. Where are the jobs? Where are the business loans? Why should we send Obama back to the White House only to be ignored again?
The threat to the Obama camp for 2012 is that African Americans will not vote, as many feel taken for granted. Obama has appealed to every sector of the population but Blacks.
The photo opportunity is over. The threat to the Obama camp for 2012 is that Blacks will not vote, as many feel taken for granted. Obama has appealed to every sector of the population but Blacks.
He endorsed gay marriage and allows gays to serve openly in the military. He addressed immigration for Latinos. He has placed women on the Supreme Court.
But Black America has not been an agenda item, for fear, I suppose, of offending the mainstream. Obama should take a page from Clinton’s handbook, America’s “first” Black president, on how to deal with the African-American community. And for economic recovery and job creation, a page from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s book would read well.
Romney has a wonderful opportunity to put his business skills to full-fledged use. He also has an opportunity with Black America.
Romney is a turn around businessman. He saved the Olympics. What did he do? America needs a business master now. What is the Romney business agenda? It needs to be defined and explained.
Republican President Richard Nixon provided the best presidential African-American business policy. He had a focused and dedicated program to improve and increase Black capitalism. Look it up if you don’t think so…because it worked.
Black America needs a type of Marshall Plan program to rebuild. Black communities suffer from too many churches, liquor stores, and wig shops.
A real economic plan for growth and development is required. Romney’s speech at the NAACP convention was poorly received because he was critical of Obama rather than presenting himself.
The Batman massacre has made both political candidates take pause. Perhaps, both men will cease attack campaigning and get to the issues of the American people that make people come out to the polls to vote.
I cannot seen to get what ndigo spoke on 1/18/2013 on v103 about design thinking, could you please send it to me. Design Thinking is the subject.Thank you.
Hello, we are currently working on a way to integrate the audio files on our website.