Cross posted at the Progressive Zionist
Driving home tonight listening to election coverage I began to have a thought... One of the guests on Julie Mason's show "Straight talk on POTUS" was talking about the possibilities of something like Romney winning the popular vote with President Obama winning the electoral vote and the chaos that would likely erupt. So it got me thinking... What about all those people that said..."Ahhh there is no difference between Bush and Vice President Gore, so what?"
Now I wasn't one of those people (I voted for Gore) but, I heard it from a number of friends. Well... as we all know, there was a huge difference. The Republican administration of George Bush, came close to destroying this nation. and taking a good chunk of the planet with it.
They worked to destroy the Middle Class and set up a Plutocracy (and with decisions like Citizens United continue to do so). They worked to destroy our environment in the name of profit. They worked to destroy Civil Rights for ALL Americans, they worked to divide the country. Never mind the fact that they worked to destroy our relations overseas with a diplomatic core that could be considered the most toxic in history.
I think we can be certain that a President Gore would never have allowed those things to happen. I can't see a President Gore working on useless tax cuts while engaging in some serious overseas adventurism. I can't see President Gore ignoring National Security warnings because they interfered with his golf game. I can't see President Gore trying to gut the EPA for Big Oil. SO... while Gore certainly would not have been perfect a Gore administration would certainly have been better for America in almost every respect.
Well now, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to bring all of that Republican love back. They want to bring back the massive tax cuts all the while running up debt in a military expansion (that is not even being asked for and is not needed). They want to bring back an era of unregulated corporate greed. They want to decimate the environment and weaken the power of the EPA until it is nothing more than three people and two desks. They want to completely overturn healthcare and privatize the social safety net.
We know what President Obama will do. While he hasn't been perfect, he has done a great deal for so many Americans. So to those who would argue that President Obama and Mitt Romney are just two sides of the same coin. I will say it straight.
You. are. an. idiot. Period.
We know the President doesn't want to gut the social safety net. We know the President stands with Women in their fight for equality. We see the judges that President Obama would nominate for the Supreme Court. We know the President stands for higher CAFE standards and development of alternative energy. We know the President stands for Healthcare for all Americans, not just those who can afford it.
We have a second chance. We cannot and must not allow what happened during the Bush years be repeated. We cannot and must not allow those policies to be brought back and expanded.
This will be a tight election. We need to GOTV in a big way. We have to convince those that would sit at home and let this incredibly important election pass them by due to cynicism to get out and vote for the President because you know what.... President Obama and Mitt Romney are NOT the same. They are different and America's future hangs in the balance.
President Obama may not offer us 100% of what we want, but, he offers us a far shot more than Romney ever will and that is good enough for me.
Get out and vote. Show up and make a difference. 537 votes made all the difference last election.
We are getting a second chance. Let's make it count.