MID SUMMER ELECTION FOCUS

One would assume, as the summer winds down, that thoughtful independent voters who have not yet focused on the presidential election or decided on a candidate, will begin to do so in the coming weeks.  Hopefully, as each voter completes their due diligence, they will avoid political commercials, cable news shows and political gossip from friends and family living on the ideological fringes.

 For the undecided voter, picking a president should not be an emotional response (like cheering for the Steelers) or one based on faulty or biased advertising (like buying breakfast cereal). To aid rational decision making, there are numerous unbiased journalists who will be giving assessments of the candidates.  Moreover, several one on one debates will be held before the election.

The candidates, both candidates, deserve measured consideration of their respective records and positions.  Behind the nastiness there are real issues.  I will leave it to others to explain the Romney position.  My view is that Barack Obama deserves to be reelected President, not because he has been an unqualified success, but because given the hand he was dealt, he has been a just, practical and dependable leader.

Obama’s policies, early and often, staved off total economic catastrophe and have avoided Europe’s fate.  He has advocated a sensible plan for increasing revenue and decreasing federal spending.  He has largely disengaged the United States from Iraq and set a firm time table for leaving Afghanistan.  He has kept terrorism at bay, both at home and internationally.  He has shifted our military strategic concerns to the Far East.  Significant progress has been made regarding gay rights and immigration. Most important, the President has passed landmark legislation that finally addressed one of the country’s greatest social problems: healthcare.

 I would argue that Obama’s policies, like those of many other great but beleaguered presidents will pass through three stages before being recognized as the right thing to do.  First, such policies are ridiculed by the political opposition; second, they are opposed by other branches of government; third, given the test of time, they are regarded as brilliant statesmanship. 

Is the economy improving? Very slowly and certainly not on an election friendly timetable for the President.  It is also true that all the troops will not be home by November.  Those who sought to defeat Lincoln at the end of his first term argued he had not yet won the Civil War. Sometimes great presidents and good timing are not destined to dovetail on Election Day. Too many factors are beyond the control of even the most powerful leader in the world.   This is no reason to reject a great president who will only get better.