Game Changer

Well, the conventions are over, the parties have spoken, and now it's up to the voters. The last two weeks, there have been things spoken by both sides that have pleased people and angered people. Very partisan policies have been proposed by both sides as well as ideas meant to unite the two parties and their members. Both sides said things that people think are lies, and both parties said things that they wish they could expand upon or take back. Either way, words right now, aren't what we are looking for. What we need is action. We want to feel as though our voice matters and our will is done.

I watched obama's speech last night, and I believe he believes what he says. He has great conviction, is a very good public speaker, and may be a truly great magician and a master of the misdirect. It appeared to me as well as many others that obama did a great show last night telling voters, don't look over here at my failures and mistakes, look over here at where I want to take you. Any time someone might have looked the other way, there was obama telling you not to look over there, but to keep you eyes on him, and it is over here that he has a future for us and we will move forward if we give him our vote.

The other thing I noticed about him was he was a man desperate to keep his job. He doesn't want to be added to current list of unemployment this November, so he's pulling out all his great tricks and words and past speeches reminding people why they voted for him four years ago. I don't think he sold himself as the best man, simply the lesser of two evils. If you ask me, Clinton presented himself better as President than obama did. Too bad he reached his term limit. Don't even get me started on Pelosi and her misguided presentation of obama and his policies as the man who can get things done. I think she hurt him more than she helped.

On the other hand, Mr. Romney didn't land the mark either. He didn't come out of his convention as the leader I believe he intended to be. I look at him, and think that he sees himself as a game changer. Someone who will level the playing field and do what must be done. I don't think he's a liar, just in over his head. It's easy to be on the outside looking in and saying, well this is what I would do, and this is how I'm going to do it. Actually sitting behind the desk and calling those shots is an entirely different thing. I've watched enough of the West Wing to know that being President is an act of character and good intentions will only get you so far if you can't back up what you want to do.

Mr. Romney wants to change things. He wants to rescue us from liberal policies. Here is where I have the problem. Liberal policies aren't a bad thing. I said that, and I'm a conservative. Liberals aren't a four letter curse word and their policies are not the act of the devil. Think about it like this, it was liberal thinking that ended slavery in this country. Yes, it was also a republican president who ended slavery; but he was a liberal republican. He was someone who saw that they way things are needed to be changed and new ideas had to be presented.

However, it's also liberal thinking that makes you think that if you don't like someone you can always change the law or create a law to make things the way you want them to be rather than what they need to be. It's liberal thinking that says if you don't like the result of a vote, who cares, you can always fight it and blame someone else and make the claim that it was out of hatred or racism or sexism, or any other ism, that makes their case for them. That it's always someone else's fault other than yourself when someone goes wrong or not according to your plan.

Now, I'm not against liberalism. I think in the right context, in the right way and for the right reasons, liberal thinking is good for the country and good for the people who vote for it. I also believe that there are benefits to conservative thinking and the polices that have benefited us in the long run. Being a conservative doesn't always make you right, and being a liberal doesn't make you wrong. Vice versa if you favor the other way. There's a balance that is needed no matter which way you lean. I'd like to see the politicians of the future see the good in being both. I'd like to see the two words not being hurled at one another as those being one way or the other is like having a virus with no cure. I'd like to think that my life is balanced because I have a little liberalism in me as well as my conservatism.

As far as this November goes, I'm voting for Romney. Is he the game changer that he believes he will be? I don't know. But then again, every President has walked into the Oval Office on the first day thinking they were going to change the world. If they didn't, they were a fool. Aim high, sir, aim for the stars. I'm sure, mr. obama walked into the office thinking the same thing. Good for him. I however don't feel as confident in him as I do Romney. I look at Romney and see what I want to be. I look at obama and see what we are, and I don't like it. We can do better. However, should obama win again, it is my hope that he can live up to his promises, to his positions, and unite the country.

I think we all need to wrap our heads around the fact that no matter who wins, someone is going to be upset. Someone is going to say we're heading downhill, that we are doomed for failure. There's nothing wrong with being upset that the person you voted for didn't win. The problem will come when that anger comes out in a destructive way and all you can see in the winner are his negatives because you wish so badly that your guy had won. Does that sound familiar?

May winner be the man that takes ideas from both the liberals and the conservatives and unites them under the banner of the red white and blue and champions a new set of ideas that the world can unite behind. May he have the courage of his convictions and the fortitude to what is best for the country. May he be the game changer we are looking for.

Until next time:
P