Reelect President Obama - He's in the better spot to move the country forward. But we're hoping for change in a second term.
By: EDITORIAL BOARD, Star Tribune, Updated: Oct. 27, 2012 - 8:32 PM
[...] Republican standard-bearer Mitt Romney spent months and millions renouncing the relatively moderate record he compiled as governor of Massachusetts. Despite his move toward the center since winning the nomination, Romney's chameleon tendencies -- coupled with an economic plan that lacks credibility -- have left us with too many doubts about how he would lead the nation.
Those doubts, combined with our fundamental disagreement with even the postconvention Romney's positions on key issues, lead us to endorse Barack Obama for a second term as president despite our disappointment over the lost opportunities of his first four years.
By no means has Obama's first term been a failure. The stimulus package was an imperfect but necessary response to the economic crisis he inherited. The auto industry bailout saved tens of thousands of jobs. Today the economy is growing modestly, and unemployment is falling.
The president's signature achievement, the poorly understood Affordable Care Act, requires individuals to take responsibility for their health care costs by buying insurance or facing a tax penalty.
That is not much of a "signature achievement," being a sop to the insurance industry and far removed from single payer, the only ultimately sustainable alternative to let them die, screw them.
But the editorial's early dismissal of Romney as not really presidential is sound. "Chameleon tentencies" is a fair characterization, and for anybody with common sense "with an economic plan that lacks credibility" is undeniable.
A chemeleon saying trust me, I can move mountains and do wonderful things, there will be details, trust me reminds me of Nixon's having a secret plan to end Vietnam. Helicopters from the embassy roof being the withheld detail that go-round.
"Trust me" from an experienced corporate raider can only appeal to those who trust too easily, something I along with others have been guilty of from time to time. While hoping "Change" actually would happen, last cycle I did not really expect it. But looking at McCain-Plain then and Romney-Ryan now, is there any real choice for sane folks to make? Republicans' grab bag of mediocrity certainly channels Bush-Cheney loud and clear; and that merits suitable fear and loathing.
There is more to Strib's endorsement editorial, again this link; including saying the truth about Romney, that he has no plan except to say he has one.
In reading the Strib item, whether you buy into the "debt reduction" austerity stuff as Strib postulates, you can reasonably expect less pandering to its advocates under four more Obama-Biden years than if Romney-Ryan were to win and replace Obama-Biden.
However, with an Obama-Biden reelection, the elderly and sick will nonetheless be crimped big time, but not as bad as by those writing off nearly half of the nation - the less affluent half - as irresponsible and targets for disdain.
Add in choice-hatred as a major concern, and it is clear that Obama is, among other things, best for the next four years worth of Supreme Court appointments, if there will be any. We have far, far, far, FAR too many Roberts, Scalia and Thomas justices, with one each.