I wrote a diary several months ago in which I essentially bashed the President and said that I would absolutely not vote for his reelection. At that time, during the debt crisis, I truly felt that I was at the end of my limits for what I could let go. We all stomached the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich. After that and the debt limit cave, I wasn't able to take anymore. A lot has happened since then. I realized shortly after and now that that was written at a point of extreme anger and what I felt to be betrayal. I knew in my heart and in my mind that that position was untenable. The year 2008 was the first year I was eligible to vote for President of the United States. My vote was proudly cast for Barack Obama in the general election. Make no mistake, I strongly believed in him as just a young 21 year old who ultimately wanted to see George W. Bush leave office for good. With that said, I realize that I was wrong in posting my thoughts back a few months ago. I did really feel the way I did back then, but I do believe that times change when approaching a general election versus a policy fight. In our political system, we are faced with two competing visions every four years. As a strong liberal Democrat, I will be choosing one of those visions come November 6th, 2012.
My disagreement with President Obama has been from the left. I have wanted a stronger fighter and someone who would fight for progressive values. For some reason, the disappointments always stuck more than the triumphs, of which we have had plenty of both. I've never wanted to see the President lose, despite what I said before. I've always been rooting for the least electable Republican to win the nomination. I don't know who that necessarily is or was, probably someone along the lines of Michele Bachmann or Newt Gingrich (neither of which will ever become POTUS, thankfully).
Ultimately, I feel that I really must come back into the fold that strongly supports the President, lest that title fall to someone entirely despicable. I totally realize that legislation passed under his Presidency has affected me positively. I thank him for signing the healthcare law that has enabled me to have great healthcare until at least age 26 (note that I am just 24). My position on so-called "Obamacare" is that it did not go far enough. A public option would have been one thing; I think single-payer would have been perfection. I refuse to ever cede ground on what we, as a nation, have accomplished with healthcare reform. I want to continue the fight to full and outright single-payer healthcare. That will never happen under a Republican Administration, among so many other economic and social advancements. If anyone looks at what are to be the options in November, I do not see how anyone that supports progress can support but one option this year, that is supporting the reelection of President Obama.
We will have a choice between two vastly different visions of America. Right now, I would assume the used car salesman Mitt Romney is the President's opponent at this point. If that is the case, we will have a choice to vote against the one-percent personified. We can vote against the ultimate flip-flopper. We can vote for someone who fundamentally supports the working class over the rich. We can vote against someone who lusts only for power and greed. As progressives, we can continue the progress we have made since the disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. We can support judicial nominations that support economic prosperity and social liberties and freedoms. Despite my disagreements, I do fundamentally support the same goals for America that President Obama believes.
If Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee, we are facing a truly despicable person. We face someone who lusts only for power and greed. He is one of the most abhorrent people to reach this point of the nominating process. This is someone who eliminates jobs in support of more wealth. He is someone who actually wants to become a career politician, despite the voters' distaste and disagreement. I have to say that Romney evokes a disgust in me that none of the other Republican nominees produce and I can see why they refuse to accept him (imagine accepting Joe Lieberman in 2004). To be honest, I do not see how any American can choose to elect Mitt Romney as President. Every time I see him or hear him speak, I think "used car salesman". That is not a compliment in any sense of the word. I find him thoroughly unlikable in every sense of the word. He supports the rich over the working class in every instance. He has no convictions whatsoever other than to obtain power and reward greed. Romney is no moderate at all. He supports greed and the rich at the expense of all else. We have the option to continue job growth and lowering unemployment or to revert back to the final years of the Bush Administration of increasing unemployment and massive job losses. Despite my disappointments, I know that President Obama's heart is in the right place. That is what will earn him my vote for a second term and where I say... 4 more years!
I will definitely be voting straight-ticket Democratic from top to bottom this year without hesitation. That is coming from both a support (for the President) and an opposition standpoint (of Mitt Romney). We simply cannot go back to what we had before. If someone so antithetical to work and economic progress is ever elected to the highest office in the land, we have truly lost. That cannot be allowed to ever happen. The greatest threat to the American middle and working classes must be stopped at all costs. We do have class warfare happening, where the rich has been waging war against the rest of the population. It appears that that choice will be President Obama fighting for the 99% or Mitt Romney fighting for him and his buddies in the top 1%. That choice is a no-brainer.