Governor Romney has had a bad
week. The forty-seven percent statement
has caused some damage. Worse yet, the
people in the swing states of Ohio, Virginia and Florida believe that President
Obama is doing a good job with the economy.
And, just to scare the Republicans some more, President Obama’s poll
numbers keep climbing while Governor Romney’s keep falling.
Republican pundits from Peggy
Noonan and Joe Scarborough to Laura Ingraham have been very vocal in pointing out
the ineptness of Governor Romney’s campaign.
The Democrats are drooling. Governor
Romney’s plan was to make the vote a referendum on President Obama’s
record. Now the Democrats are now making
it a referendum on Governor Romney’s qualifications.
According to the Democrats: Governor
Romney’s fourteen percent tax rate demonstrates that he is out of touch with
the middle class; the forty-seven
percent of Americans being victims, statement shows that Governor Romney does not
care about the middle class; and Governor
Romney’s non-diplomatic statements in England and Israel demonstrate his lack
of foreign affairs acumen.
Anyone watching the news this week
would assume that the party is over, it’s time to call it a day, Governor
Romney is toast. EXCEPT: there are still
forty-four days left in this election campaign. In politics, forty-four days is a
lifetime. The Muslim world could
continue to spew hate filled demonstrations against the United States. The
stock market could take a significant down-turn. Or, Governor Romney could
start talking about the issues. At least
Governor Romney can control one of those potential game changers.
It appears as though an election
for the most likable person will favor President Obama. An election about the issues COULD favor
Governor Romney. The use of the word
“COULD’ to fudge the possible advantage for Governor Romney is needed. Governor Romney has not communicated a vision
for his presidency. Sure, he has let us
all know that he is a businessperson that understands economics. That is great. Now if he could just speak in a manner that
allows the middle class to understand the economy – and how he will fix it; he
may just see the polls start to change in his direction.
The original plan of making this a
referendum on President Obama has not gained traction. It is now time for Plan B. Does Governor Romney have a Plan B? For the country’s sake, let us all hope that he
does.
President Obama has a Plan B. He calls it the American Jobs Act. It is a bill that he proposed earlier this
year that the Republicans did not allow to go anywhere. The fundamental underpinnings of this plan
are to invest in America’s infrastructure and to provide federal assistance to
local governments to hire more teachers and first responders. President Obama stated that the private
sector has been steadily adding jobs but the problem is that the government has
been cutting jobs. All the economy needs
is more government employees and some more stimulus spending to build roads,
railways, and runways. If that is
President Obama’s Plan B, Governor Romney has to be able to do better.
We do not need more teachers,
firemen and policemen. We need jobs that
add to the tax base – not jobs that are paid for by our taxes. We cannot afford to build new roads, railways
and runways to make it easier for China to distribute their products in
America. President Obama can tell China:
“Hey you didn’t build that business – America did it for you.”
We need to invest in the private
industry that can build things that we export.
The technology of robotic manufacturing is exploding. Leveraging this technology will allow us to
compete against the $2 per hour labor costs in China, and Mexico. It will create real, tangible products that
we can sell to our foreign competitors.
We can start to bring money back to the United States instead of
shipping it across the sea for cheap imports.
Governor Romney knows how to do this.
All he has to do is make Americans understand that this is our way out
of our economic mess.
Governor Romney also knows that a
strong defense and clear communications of America’s red lines will not be
liked in the Muslim world – but they will be respected. It is time for America to be less liked and
more respected. That brings this discussion
back to where it started: we must elect the candidate that is not the most
liked but the candidate that deserves the most respect for his actions. At this point, neither candidate has earned
that respect.
Note to President Obama: please
prepare your Plan C. Americans are
looking for creative solutions. We do
not want to continue down the same path of misery that you call “forward”. That path has been leading us nowhere for
four years. Besides if Governor Romney
does summon up the courage to articulate a clear vision for America’s future,
you will be the one panicking. It is in
America’s best interest for both candidates to develop creative solutions to
our problems. Maybe, just maybe, we
could see some bipartisan leadership after the elections to put the best ideas
of the two plans to work for America.
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