By: John Hayward
8/15/2012 08:09 AM
In a speech in Chillicothe, Ohio on Tuesday, Mitt Romney had strong words for the ugly campaign Barack Obama is running:
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In 2008, Candidate Obama said, “if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.” He said, “if you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” And that, he told us, is how, “You make a big election about small things.”
That was Candidate Obama describing the strategy that is the now the heart of his campaign.
His campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the Presidency. Another outrageous charge came a few hours ago in Virginia. And the White House sinks a little bit lower.
This is what an angry and desperate Presidency looks like.
President Obama knows better, promised better and America deserves better.
Over the last four years, this President has pushed Republicans and Democrats as far apart as they can go. And now he and his allies are pushing us all even further apart by dividing us into groups. He demonizes some. He panders to others. His campaign strategy is to smash America apart and then cobble together 51 percent of the pieces.
If an American president wins that way, we all lose.
But he won’t win that way. America is one Nation under God. American history has been a story of the many becoming one – uniting to preserve liberty, uniting to build the greatest economy in the world, uniting to save the world from unspeakable darkness. Everywhere I go in America there are monuments that list those who have given their lives. There is no mention of their race, their party affiliation or what they did for a living. They lived and died under a single flag fighting for a single purpose. They pledged allegiance to the United States of America. So, Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America.
Romney didn’t think much of Obama’s record in office, either:
Unemployment has been above 8 percent for 42 straight months. We will put Americans back to work!
Half of recent college graduates can’t find work or a job that matches their skills. We’ll get good jobs for our kids.
Nearly one out of six Americans are in poverty today. This is a disgrace we will end.
And President Obama has amassed five trillion dollars of debt – nearly as much debt held by the public as all other Presidents combined. We will end this moral failure.
After four years, it’s clear that President Obama’s policies aren’t fixing these problems, they’re making them worse. That is why Ohio will lead the way by electing a new President on November 6th.
He said he thought Obama’s performance was so disappointing because “I just don’t think President Obama understands what it is that drives our economy.” Romney’s own understanding of American economic excellence included a pointed jab at Obama’s infamous “you didn’t build that” dismissal of the entrepreneurial spirit:
America runs on freedom. Free men and women, pursuing their dreams, working hard to build a better future for their families. This is what propels our economy. When an American succeeds, when she wins a promotion, when he creates a business, it is that individual, that American that has earned it, that has built it. Government does not build our businesses, the American people do.
The American people also build the government. We pay for it with our taxes. We choose who will lead us with our votes.
Do you want a president who believes that your rights come from God, not from government?
Do you want a president who honors your right to pursue happiness, not as government commands, but as you choose?
Do you want a president who will work every day to bring us together, not tear us apart?
Do you want a president who will celebrate success, not attack it?
Do you want a president who will never, ever apologize for the greatest nation on earth?
With your support, I will be that President.
Romney did a very good job of presenting the substance of his campaign platform:
My plan focuses on five things.
First, energy independence. We will achieve North America energy independence by 2020, by taking full advantage of our oil, our gas, our coal, our renewables and our nuclear power. Abundant, inexpensive, domestic energy will not only create energy jobs, it will bring back manufacturing jobs.
Second, we must give our workers and our children the skills they need to succeed. Our nation cannot continue to fail in public education. For too long, we have let the agenda of union bosses steer the agenda of our schools. It is time to put our kids and their parents and their teachers first, and the union bosses behind.
Third, trade must work for America. We are one of the world’s most productive nations. Trade creates jobs and raises take-home pay for American workers. We must open more doors for trade in Latin America, where there is a growing middle class. But when any nation cheats, as China has cheated, we must make sure that there are clear and compelling consequences.
Fourth, we will do what politicians in both parties have been promising for years, but have failed to do. We will cut spending, shrink deficits, and put America on track to a balanced budget.
Fifth, we will champion small business. Unlike President Obama, I won’t raise taxes on small business. I’ll make sure regulators protect the public, but that they stop killing our jobs. I will remove the crippling uncertainty that is preventing businesses from hiring.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama was making jokes about Romney transporting a dog on the roof of his car 30 years ago, and Joe Biden was telling an audience in Virginia that Republicans want to “put y’all back in chains.”
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To read another article about the Romney-Ryan ticket, click here.
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To read another article by John Hayward, click here.
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