My personal thoughts on the 2012 Presidential Election
I was born in 1964. I have voted in seven presidential elections.
My voting history is decidedly independent.
The first presidential election I could vote in was in 1984 at the age of 20.
I voted for Reagan in 1984, he was caring and compassionate and charismatic.
I voted for in 1988 for George Bush. It was a “default” vote as Dukakis was simply not presidential material and Bush was Reagan’s VP.
I voted in 1992 for Ross Perot. It was a protest vote. Bush was not a leader and he lied about not raising taxes. I did not feel comfortable with Clinton.
I voted in 1996 for Bill Clinton. I could not possibly vote for Dole and the economy was doing well.
I voted in 2000 for GW Bush after hearing how he would “reach across the aisle” and I was sickened by the Lewinsky nonsense. I also did not feel Gore was presidential material and I was hopeful GW, speaking Spanish and all, would be the guy that would make government functional through compromise.
I voted in 2004 reluctantly for GW Bush as the nation needed constancy after 9/11 and frankly Kerry was unimpressive. This sucked.
I voted for Obama I in 2008. McCain was “not all there” mentally at that time. Years earlier I might have voted for the “maverick”. I also felt that the nation had swung way too far to the right. Hope and Change was worth a shot. I was also appalled by the rampant spending in the Bush admin. The tax cuts in the midst of massive military spending made no sense.
In 2012 I will vote again for Obama. Why?
Easy. I know what I have with Obama. He is far more moderate than he is demonized to be. He is not a Muslim. He is Christian. He is an American Native citizen. He is not a socialist. Heck, he isn’t even black. He is half white.
He inherited a shit-storm. He made rapid and bold decisions in the face of spiteful opposition to stave off a depression. Had he cut spending and taxes rather than rebuke the Republican’s stimulus philosophy (Bush started the stimulus programs) we would all be hobos right now. He is ending the pathetic wars in Iraq and Pakistan. There are fewer government workers now than when he took office. He is NOT a “big spender”. He is just trying to pay the Republicans tab. In the meantime he took the huge political risk to get health care reform passed. Fewer folks in the ER and folks getting preventative care will dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare in the long run. We can still think long term in this country can’t we?
I might have voted for Romney but cannot simply because I have no idea who he is. His pandering to the right to survive the Republican primaries and now his sharp turn to the middle to appeal to undecided voters is pathetic. On top of that Romney has the audacity to rebuke Obamacare despite the fact that it is virtually identical to his own “Romneycare”. It is clear that Romney will be a puppet to Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, John Bolton, Donald Trump, etc. I won’t even get into the spray tan thing.
So don’t call me a liberal nor a democrat. For that matter don’t call me a conservative or a republican.
I am who I am. I vote for the man (or woman) for the time. Romney is the man perhaps for the 1950’s. Obama is the man now.