(for what it's worth)
I believe that I've swung at least a dozen people this election cycle, at least from what they've told me. More importantly, there are at least two people who seem to have awakened from the fevered dreams of talk radio in the last few months.
In any case, here's my closing argument, posted on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/...
People have been surprised by how passionate I've been about this election (although those who know me well have been rolling their eyes at my "passion" for a long time, I'm sure!).
Well, it's pretty simple this time around for me. I could start listing all of the things the President did that I think warrant a second term (see below if you care - I really don't want to argue about them now). The
re's no time left to litigate any of those and really, there's a far more basic reason that I am voting straight anti-Republican this time: a meeting that took place on my 50th birthday. On the night of January 20th, 2009, the night of the inauguration, a group of prominent Republicans:
Frank Luntz
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA),
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX),
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA),
Sen. Jim DeMint (SC-R),
Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ-R),
Sen. Tom Coburn (OK-R),
Sen. John Ensign (NV-R)
Sen. Bob Corker (TN-R) and
Newt Gingrich
met in private and pledged to wield unyielding obstructionism to anything and everything the new President tried to do. Remember, this was when we were on the brink of utter financial disaster. They said they would stop him on anything and everything he tried to do - pure obstructionism. They don't even try to hide this meeting - I watched Gingrich brag about it on television. Obstruct everything!
And so they have tried their damnedest to do so. Witness the unbelievable number of filibusters and the assault against any Republican who crossed over to "the enemy" (Arlen Specter with ARRA, for example). It was all about discipline and stopping him, in the nihilistic strategy of preventing the President from getting anything done, then blaming him for doing nothing.
I can't reward that. Period. This is un-governance by design and it horrifies me to think that any political party would do such a thing, particularly given the plight of America over the last few years. I can only hope the GOP will become again a party for whom I can actually cast a vote: prior to 2000, I had voted for Republicans for President in three of the previous four elections, and Republicans for Governor every year since 1988 (and voted for Romney, too).
We have huge issues we need to tackle - climate change, the Arab Spring, Iran, our own debt, the fall of the middle class - and any substantive actions require compromise, and any actions at all are better off when there is compromise. For example, with Obamacare, the Republicans KNEW they couldn't stop it, even after Scott brown was elected. The die had been cast. At that point in time, the Republicans could have offered some votes in exchange for something THEY wanted, like tort reform.
But no. The plan was laid out: united and unyielding opposition. So yes, I'll be voting for the President tomorrow. I cannot reward the cynicism of a party that would follow such a scheme for four years. No sir, I cannot and will not.
And please don't think there are no positive reasons I'm voting for President Obama - here's a list of things I think this President did very well, and NO, I don't want to argue about it: working with President Bush to get the plummeting financial markets stabilizaed; the auto bailout; ARRA (which helped put a bottom out of our fall); DADT repeal; devastating Al Qaeda and yes, having the guts to go into Pakistan and get that sonofabittch Bin Laden; his handling of the revolutions sweeping the middle east; the sanctions on Iran; his RAISING my taxes at the top end...I may not love paying taxes, but they are the price of civilization, sorry; his forward leaning on renewable energy, because yes, global warming is costing us big time; and Obamacare, which finally gave me, as a small business, peace of mind should I or any member of my family get sick (we can't get dropped now); and yes, poignantly now, for REBUILDING FEMA, and with a REPUBLICAN DIRECTOR who is doing an amazing job...and on and on...
That's my endorsement.
President Obama deserves a second term.
(To anyone who goes there to add a comment, PLEASE be positive and respectful - please do not argue with those who disagree. Not now. You won't change any minds, and I don't want fights on that page. Thank you.)