Some thoughts

Bear with me on this post, I know this topic is a touchy one. But I want to voice some thoughts. I have never cared much about politics. When I finally was allowed to vote, I didn't. To me, politicians bought their way into office. The electorate didn't matter, it was all for show. The second term election of W pretty much proved that. And that's when I started paying attention.

I voted for W in that second term election, and I voted for Obama in the last one. I say this because I want you to know I write this as an independent voter. I vote for who I think will do the best job. I do not believe in voting for party. When people vote solely on party lines, our country ends up in the mess it's in. That's the main reason our current congress hasn't done a thing in three years. It's maddening when our congress people will say, "I believe what the other party is pushing, but I voted for mine. I don't want to cross the line." Who cares that their constituents wanted them to vote the other way, it's all about what their party cohorts want. And if you look up the reasons the two parties were established back in the day, neither one still meets those guidelines, especially the Republicans.

So this is why I write this. We now know that, barring some super weird occurrence, Romney is going to be the challenger to Obama. What I ask of you is to start paying attention to them now. Don't wait till October. There's a lot that will be said and covered between now and then. If you wait till then, you'll only hear what they want you to hear as you're marking that circle.

We already know that Obama has waited till the last year to actually try to push through his policies. He can rightfully blame Congress for a lot of that. If a bill can't get through Congress, the President has little he can do. But as we've seen this year, he can get mean and make things happen. So, yes, Obama has shown his shortcomings. And we have 4 years of on-the-job results to review.

Now we have his challenger, who is running on the platform that he knows how to run businesses. And as such, he knows how to fix this country. Here's my arguments, and what I hope you will research. How did he run those businesses, and does that translate over to fixing our economy? How does it relate to international dealings? Does he understand how to deal with war, potential war, national security? Does he understand all the other issues that come with being President? All these are things he needs to do as President. So far his answers to a lot of these questions have left me wondering if he knows.

Don't rely solely on the media, especially the 2 minute snippits on the five o'clock news. The bias is amazing, one way or the other. Read articles from both sides, watch both MSNBC (Dems) and Fox (Repubs). Get all the info you can. For instance, this last week's blow up over a dem talking head that Ann Romney hadn't worked a day in her life as a stay at home mom, and the media firestorm that caused. Coincidentally enough, Mitt Romney made a comment at a rally a few months ago that essentially said stay at home parents need to get out and work, have a dignified job (Google it if you don't believe me). So both sides have basically said the same thing. But the media spins things so dramatically, it makes it look worse than it should be. Both sides have said things that are ridiculous, and the next few months are going to be crazy.

Here's what it boils down to for me:

1. If Mitt wants to run this country, he needs to be more honest. Right now, he says what he believes people want to hear, or what his campaign donors want to hear. His spokesperson even admitted Mitt will change his platform once he is the official Repub challenger. He's been all over the place on what he wants to do as President. Pick a point and stick with it.

2. He claims to be all about America, but hides his income in off shore, tax free accounts. How does he expect me to vote for him, and trust he will fix the tax system, when he obviously knows it's screwed up by keeping his money elsewhere? And hiding his tax returns definitely does not help his cause. To me, that is dishonest and shows he knows he is cheating.

3. He has made it very evident he has no idea what the majority of this country is dealing with right now. When he goes off script, he makes statements that are economically offensive. I get that he's rich, so be it. It's everyone's goal in life to have the money he has. But don't flaunt it by saying the idiotic things he does.

4. Everyone in the country is in agreement that Obama wasn't ready to be President. But how is Romney better? They essentially had the same "on-the-job training". So what makes a first term Romney better than a second term Obama?

5. Lastly, tell me HOW you're going to fix the problems. Just telling me the system is messed up does nothing for me. I know that. He is admittedly not telling us his plans, because he's afraid we'll use that against him. Well, duh!

Like I said before, we know Obama's track record, so I'm not making any talking points here for him. Go on your own judgement there. We all know he has just as many downsides as Romney. Trust me, I wish the Dems had put someone up to challenge him. If for nothing else than to push him to do a better job.

So here is my plea to you - don't vote for Romney just because you hate Obama; don't vote for Romney just because of his religion; and don't vote for Romney because he's Republican, and that's how you have always voted. And don't vote for Obama for those same reasons. Research them, pay attention to what they really stand for, know who you are voting for. The next six months will bring out who these two really are. Just know that whoever gets elected, it's not going to instantly get better - oil will still be ridiculously expensive, jobs will still be scarce, the housing market will still suck. They are both still politicians, after all. And to them, their bank accounts and interests matter more than this country. It's just a matter of who is going to get things headed in the right direction.