In an attempt to put a stop to the so far successful Obama campaign, Mitt Romney decided to choose Paul Ryan, a prominent member of the Tea Party, as his running mate. This choice destroyed any chances Romney had of salvaging his campaign by focusing on the economy and instead, due to Ryan’s likely influence, it will probably focus more on attacking Obama’s policies than on tackling any real issues concerning the economy which is currently the most pertinent issue. By attacking Romney’s strength, which were issues concerning the economy, the Obama campaign pushed Romney into making a disastrous choice for a running mate, turning the scales in favor of Obama. Romney chose his running mate to try and counter Obama’s attacks on him by attacking Obama’s greatest strength, which is his likability. The Republican campaign can be considered to be hypocritical in its stance against the comments and policies of the Obama administration. When similar actions to Obama’s or Biden’s were done by members of the Republican party such as Herman Cain, there were no condemnations or comments from the ranks of the party but when the members of the Obama administration did the very same things, they were heavily criticized by the Republicans. This shows that the Republicans are selective in what they perceive to be the wrong policies, keeping quiet when it is one of their own, and making unsubstantiated comments when it is a member of a rival party. The call by the Romney campaign to stop any personal attacks during the remaining period of campaigns can be considered ironical because of the fact that it is the one which concentrated more on these personal attacks.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
The Welfare Gambit by Charles M. Blow
There have been desperate attacks from the Romney campaign team targeting President Obama’s social welfare policy. Romney himself has stated that Obama has instituted measures that will drop the work requirements of individuals, enabling workers to get employed in jobs for which they have not been trained. This can be seen as an attempt to discredit Obama’s welfare policy which is designed to ensure that there are more employment opportunities for the unemployed Americans as well as reducing poverty. This is something that no Republican government has succeeded in doing and the Romney campaign’s claims have no basis in fact. It can be said that these attacks were made due to the desperation of romney’s team in a bid to gain mor ground against the Obama campaign. This is despite the fact that many Republican governors have applied for or requested funds and waivers from the federal welfare program which was instituted by the President. Furthermore, these persistent statements by Romney conserning welfare can be considered to be untrue because during his term as governor, he offered welfare recipients even more generous packages than what Obama is offering. This might be Romney’s attempt to gain the confidence and votes of the more conservative members of the Republican party who would otherwise not have voted for him. It might also be viewed as a way of trying to bring together all the different factions of the Republican party so that it can show a united front when backing him for his presidential bid.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Anglo-Saxon Heritage, Multicultural Future by Charles M. Blow
An article on The Daily Telegraph in July quoted and advisor to Mitt Romney as saying that the special relationship between Britain and the United States existed mainly because of a shared Anglo-Saxon heritage and that the current administration does not appreciate it. This remark can be taken by some to be extremely racist because only a minority of Americans identifies their ancestry to be English. Such comments from an advisor to a presidential candidate may clearly display the real attitudes of that particular candidate and the negative influences that will be a part of his administration. The Romney campaign did not completely deny or retract that particular statement nor did they make an apology for it. This is not the first time that negative influences have appeared to distort the Republican campaign. One of the staunchest supporters of Mitt Romney is the business entrepreneur Donald Trump who has appeared on record saying that President Obama is not an American citizen and that he was not even born in the United States. Such matters have already been dealt with during the previous election campaigns and also when the President displayed his birth certificate to prove his American birth and citizenship. However, Trump has continued to pursue this line of attack against the President without considering how much his statements are hurting the Romney campaign. Romney has not attempted to break or to distance himself from his relationship with Trump and many may assume that Trump’s comments may be what Romney considers to be the truth. It is not advisable for Romney to continue keeping people with little constructive comments around him if he wishes to step into the White House.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Voter Suppression and Political Polls by Charles M. Blow
Polls are used to determine the trend which voters are most likely to follow during an election but these polls are becoming insignificant due to the new voter registration laws which are being put in place especially in vote swinging states such as Pennsylvania. Many likely voters in the swing states intend to vote for President Obama but it is these who are most likely to be excluded from the voting roles due to their ineligibility to vote under the new laws. Both presidential candidates have made numerous visits to swing states in an attempt to get a larger share of votes within these states than their opponents. Moreover, some governors, especially in Florida, have made it harder for former felons to vote and since most of these ex-felons are either of Latino or African American descent who tend to vote Democrat, it means that Obama will most likely lose crucial votes in these states. It is not known exactly how many voters are aware of these new electoral rules due to the fact that not many people follow news about the upcoming elections and the changes which have been made to electoral laws. It is suspected that many people who are expected to vote for their preferred candidates (in this case President Obama) might be turned away due to the fact of their ineligibility. The new election laws have been pushed by Republicans in order to suppress the ability of Democratic voters to vote in large numbers, thus ensuring Republican victories in these states.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
From Victim to Vicious by Charles M. Blow
Charles Blow states that the Mitt Romney campaign had adopted the stance of being victims of vicious attacks from the Obama campaign team. This is despite the fact that the Romney team has continuously led a smear campaign against Obama stating his weakness in matters of policy as well as attacking him personally concerning deviant events in his past which he has confessed to and regrets. Furthermore, it is ironical that the Romney campaign is making such claims and is behaving like a victim when in fact, it is they who have made vicious attacks against Obama and his administration. This has been a new attempt to discredit the Obama campaign by playing the victim because all other attacks against Obama, whether personal or political, seem to have failed so far. It is quite possible that Romney is attempting to divert attention from the weak points of his campaign such as his unwillingness to make information about his tax returns public, among others. These claims by Romney may just work against his favor especially considering that he is accusing a relatively popular president of making vicious attacks against him. This might not go very well with the public because of the fact that Obama’s controversial issues have already been dealt with and accepted by the public during the previous elections and raising these issues further will only help the Obama campaign. Recent polls asking who had better personal character to assume the presidency showed that Obama would more likely be elected than Romney. Furthermore, Romney’s complete refusal to reveal his income tax returns may lead to the continued distrust of the electorate and ruin his chances of getting elected.
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