My name is Ryan Rosenbaum and I am the leader of the Practical Party. This is the party that listens to all sides and all ideas and makes a judgment based on facts, logic and the betterment of all people. In my own little world, I feel like my vote carries more weight because it is made with an informed and measured decision. My vote is very transparent and it sees through red tape and blue tape. I truly chose my leaders based not on who I simply agree with, but I chose my leaders based on a potpourri of reading, listening, seeing all sides and all point of views.
Since the year 1996, the first year I could vote, I have not missed a single Presidential Debate (Republican or Democrat).I have even attended a few. I take my right to vote very seriously and I even attend debates for state and county races. As a proud citizen, I have voted in every election (Primary and General since 1996).I want to make this very clear that sometimes my vote goes to Republicans, sometimes it goes to Democrats and sometimes it goes to 3rd party candidates. One thing is for sure, my votes always go somewhere.
There are hundreds of people running for US President in 2012. Only 4 will be on enough ballots to qualify for at least 270 electoral votes (Obama, Romney, Stein and Johnson) and of those candidates, there are are only 2 with a realistic chance of winning the presidency (Obama or Romney). In 2008, I not only voted for Barrack Obama but I supported him very early in the campaign. I actually supported him when there were still 7 democrats still in the running. I even gave money to his campaign. I saw the direction of the country at the time and he made the most practical sense to me. This year I come into the election with a more vigilant eye and open mind.
The interesting thing about Obama is that he has accomplished around 85% of the things that he campaigned on. He is the 1st sitting president to champion a nationwide health coverage program, he ended a decade + war in Iraq, He overturned "Don't Ask Don't Tell." He called the shot to terminate Bin Laden, he helped establish consumer protection on credit cards, he enforced equal pay for equal women. I would even concede that he implemented some controls to put a stop gap on the recession. The only thing Obama has failed do do is reinvigorate the economy. Personally, as an educated man who found myself out of work for 9 months during the Obama tenure, I have a huge problem with that. As a man who can't sell or refinance my home because no one wants to buy in this economy, I have a big problem with that too. Obama can split heirs and say the job market has gone up the last 30 months. But numbers don't lie and our unemployment today is the same as it was the day Obama took office. Do I let this inefficiency slide because of his incredibly effective style in implementing some very practical policies in his social agenda?
As for Romney, he is the perennial presidential candidate.On one hand, I strongly feel we need a business-minded leader to take reign of our economic policies. As many commentators have pointed out, his company Bain Capital, cost many people their jobs. But If it were all bad news, no one would have hired them, so my skepticism of his business practices is tempered because I believe he created more jobs then he destroyed. I have read the damming cover story in "Rolling Stone" about his bad leverage buyouts and I would even concede that Matt Tiabi is a great advocate of practical politics. I just have a hard time believing this criticism of Romney. I also believe Romany was a vital ingredient in managing the successful Winter Olympics in Utah. By all accounts, he was also a very competent governor in Massachusetts. Of course he governed as a moderate. Like Obama, I believe he is decent man with strong family values and I even admire his work with the Mormon community. He was certainly the most practical choice in a poll of conservative clowns in the 2012 primary. My knocks on Romney are the following...
1. Unlike the president, Romney is a super rich. I mean he is off the charts rich. His net value is $275 million dollars. That makes him one of the 5,000 richest people in America ad that makes him richer than 99.999% of all Americans. Don't get me wrong, Obama is rich too. His estimate wealth is at $2 million dollars (per capital the least wealthiest president ever). But the bigger difference is Obama wasn't always rich. You may say, whats wealth have to do with presidential politics?
It's simple. Romney, through no fault of his home, can not understand, comprehend, envision a life of limited means. He can't understand what a struggle it is to save and provide for a family. He doesn't understand what its like to go paycheck to paycheck. The man has been running for president for 6 years without a paying job and it doesn't effect him one bit financially. If I go 6 days without a paycheck, I am in deep financial troubles and I consider myself to be middle-class. So it should be noted that apples-to apples, our president should reflect someone who has the experience of living a financially moderate life. Is that fair? Maybe not but in my practical world it should be counted in your calculated decision for this office. I would also say that my household income is around 275 million less then his but we are in the 25% tax bracket. He somehow has only pays 14%. How is is that justified?
2. The perception is that Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected. I believe that the reason why people feel this way about him is because... its true. I can honestly say that I have no idea where he stands on many hot button issues. This includes on health reform, women's health and our strategy in getting out of Afghanistan. The reason why I have no clue on his position has nothing to do with me paying attention. As I prefaced earlier, I have actually paid too much attention to these elections. It has everything to do with Mitt Romney being on both sides of nearly every issue. I understand why. First he needed to appease conservatives to win the parties nomination. Then he needed to switch gears to appease Independents in the general election. Its a sleazy approach but he knows exactly what he is doing and many Americans are eating bird seeds right out his hand. I have big issue with this strategy. Its deceitful and dishonest.
3. The third issue with Mitt Romney is that he represents the Republican Party and although, he is historically a pretty moderate Republican, he still embodies the support and confidence of people like Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump, Glenn Beck and Grover Norquist...and the members of The Practical Party agree that these people represent whats truly bad in America. We don't dislike them because we share a different view on fundamental policies. We dislike them because we believe their rhetoric is hateful, racist, bigoted and detrimental to the governance of our nation.
Case and point, On Obama's first day as president in January, 2009 (or as Romney likes to proclaim, campaign kickoff day), Rush Limbaugh stated how Republicans number one goal was to make sure Obama was a one term president. It sounded like a crazy sentiment but the congress bowed to that idea and began obstructing every piece of legislation that Obama wanted to pass, including many bills that were fundamentally swayed to a conservative audience but looked bad because were directed by a Democratic president. This exact practice cost our country a credit rating decrease and stunted some of our economic growth. Let us also not forget their race baiting campaign in obtaining the presidents birth documents or invoking his middle name into speeches to lead their audiences in believing our president was a Muslim. But even if he was a Muslim does that mean he is a terrorist...most Muslims are not.
So with all this being said, I was was still undecided as a voter going into the 2nd week of October this year. My feeling was that this race is for Obama's to lose. He obviously would not win by as much as he did in 2008 but a small victory will send the signal of "You are better than Romney but you still are not as good as you can be." My vote up until mid-October was going for Green Party Candidate, Jill Stein. Not because I thought she would win but because I needed to send a message to both candidates that they needed to work harder to earn our trust.
But lately I have had a change of heart. We can talk policies till we are blue in the face but for me the election comes down to three simple questions.
A. Are we better today then we were 4 years ago? The answer is a resounding "No." Some people are back to work but many more are not. People are suffering financially.
B. Will we be better 4 years from now with a different candidate? The answer to that question is also a resounding "NO."
So it comes down to my 3rd question...
C. Which candidate can I see working his hardest for the betterment of me and my family. The people of the Practical Party believe that the answer to that question is Barack Obama.
Although I am not completely satisfied with the first four years, I can at least acknowledge that he is working hard under very difficult circumstances. I truly believe he has my best intentions in mind. I also believe that he has tried to work hard with both political parties and one side has completely shut him out and that turned me off big time. But the straw that brokes the camels back is that our country had its best years when Clinton, a fellow Democrat was President. Our worst years were when Bush 1 and Bush 2 were presidents. It is not an accident that Clinton has been out on the trails and that the Republicans are doing their best to swim away from the Bushes. As a matter of fact, Republicans always reference Ronald Regan as the crown jewel of The Republican presidency. The irony is that Regan was more centrist then Mitt Romney ever was or will ever be. Regan would have been labeled a Socialist Facist in a 2012 Republican Primary.
I don't want you to vote for Obama simply because he is the choice of the Practical Party. My decision is very calculated on what I see for my family and our countries future. If you believe in Romney then by all means, vote for him. Its your vote and your right. No one should take that away. If Romney were to be our president, I would respect that decision and follow his leadership. I would not be bitter nor should anyone else.
Let us all come together as all practical Americans and get behind whoever wins this election. The times of bitterness, divide and political scorekeeping is hurting our progress. Lets respect the will of the voters and not make this a bitter election.
