Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My Vote

Despite having cancelled cable a couple months ago, I have been able to watch the two Presidential debates and the Vice Presidential debate online and on the Xbox. (Hey - I even got Davis to give his full attention to last night's debate. I have hope for him yet!) Here are my brief thoughts on the debates before I get into the issues I'm voting based on.

1) As humorous as it was to watched Mitt Romney dominate the first debate, I thought it was an embarrassing display on the part of our current President, especially given the fact that he said debate prep was "a drag". I almost felt bad for Barack, but it finally gave Americans some insight into the attitude and abilities of our current President. I'm glad Mitt Romney was forceful in pointing out when Obama was misconstruing Romney's plans and beliefs.

2) The Vice Presidential debate was a bit more of a debate, which I appreciated. I thought Paul Ryan was incredibly well spoken, particularly when compared to Biden's childish snorts, eye-rolling, and disrespectful attitude. That kind of behavior is something I expect from my 3 year old students (and even then they're given a choice to either be respectful or be removed from the group until they can control themselves). However, there was an awful lot of he-said, she-said going on, which I suppose is what happens when Vice Presidential debates have no real bearing on the election itself.

3) Last night the President showed up, and it was actually somewhat of a...well, a debate. However, we witnessed an incredible disregard for the moderating rules when Candy Crowley took Obama's side over the phrase "acts of terror".  She has since admitted that she shouldn't have taken sides and that Romney was actually correct. Are you kidding me?! She is supposed to be an unbiased moderator, and it's a shame that she couldn't follow the rules.

When I vote, I will be voting for the man who I believe has America's best interests at heart.
I'm voting for the man who embraces the Constitution instead of looking for loopholes around it.
I'm voting for the man who believes government has no right interfering with matters of religion, especially where contraception and abortion are concerned.
I'm voting for a man who will not make apologies to our enemies.
I'm voting for a man who has legitimate experience running a state, an organization, a business.
I'm voting for a man whose campaign budget is actually balanced.
I'm voting for a man who wants to bring stability to Social Security for the younger generations without endangering it for those who are currently near retirement.
I'm voting for a man who believes in the 10th Amendment, which states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I'm voting for a man who won't give details on his plan because he actually wants to sit down with Democrats and Republicans alike to formulate a plan together- no man is an island!
I'm voting for a man who knows that The United States of America should not be borrowing money from China to fund PBS (a group who has said that if the small amount of federal funding is pulled, Sesame Street won't be going anywhere because they rely heavily on other contributions).
I'm voting for a man who wants Americans to get off food stamps and into jobs that will provide for their families.
I'm voting for a man who understands that small businesses create jobs - not the government.
I'm voting for a man who, when he was Governor of Massachusettes, spent time working the jobs of other people including a garbage man, asphalt paver, emergency room volunteer, food server in a nursing home, and a child care assistant. I'm voting for him because he understands how hard I and all my colleagues work when he says, "I'm often asked which was the hardest job - it's child care, by a mile."