Philadelphia – America has spruced up another debate season this fall, just like one every four years for the past two centuries. The same old question keeps churning in voter’s minds; who will reign in the White House for the next term of four years. There is an everlasting hope in the American mind that the winner will bring a magic wand and eventually resolve all their serious problems.
The election campaign for each candidate draws a route to reach a destination called Nirvana for peace, happiness and prosperity. When a winner takes the oath of office, reality strikes and the journey turns into a grand marathon where the dream remains like a mirage on a horizon. If the message delivered by both candidates would have promises for Mars, Venus and the moon, then be ready for compounded misery and suffering at the end of the period for the next four years.
Both candidates, former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and US President Barack Obama, say that they are fine sculptors to put the nation and the economy in the right shape for the next four years in their own way. They compete more on style than the substance they could deliver. So it becomes paramount to examine their plans carefully and see whether the nation would align with their vision to achieve their goals in the short term.
Obama sailed in the winds of “Hope and Change” during his winning campaign of 2008, but both remained an unfinished story for the campaign of 2012. He still has lofty goals for his second term, which is not on cross-wires of the nation’s vision or confidence.
Obama has been trying hard on the social front from the economy, unemployment, education, energy, and health care, but still faces an incomplete grade on his performance in his first term. He may blame others for insufficient cooperation, but it exposes his inabilities in leadership as a taskmaster. His achievement remains a mixed bag where he gets high marks on foreign policy matters and a disappointing grade in the economy, employment and health care issues.
Obama wants to be a job creator for the next term, but quality and job sectors are also as important as the numbers of job created. He has not been forthcoming on specifics here. The biggest worry about his strategy on balancing the budget and stopping the economic carnage of the deficit monster is how he would take Congress to task now.
He won the last election solely on the Herculean effort of American youth of ages 18 to 29 years, who delivered two-thirds of their votes to him. It is a vulnerable lot in this election with a mounting debt of student loans to pay in record numbers and no real hope of making the American dream their own.
Obama says he has relieved them from high interest rates on loans. He needs to get in touch with reality to truly help the youth who are the assets of the nation, not towing in with unreasonable demands of teachers and their unions while the nation is bleeding economically.
Alas, we could have enough details on Mitt Romney’s plans to analyze as he has been as illusive on his plans and agenda for the next four years as he has shown in releasing financial disclosures on his past five to eight years, in prudence to run for the highest public office of the nation. He has abandoned his own health care plan as a governor of a state in favor of placating a few in the right wing of his own party. He has put 47 percent of Americans on an auction block during the nation’s recovery. He wants to award a big $2 trillion giveaway to the Department of Defense, while they are ready to cut their own budget.
Many Americans have not shown trust in his handling of tax codes for any class of people. He talks about creating 12 million jobs without mathematical calculation on derivation of results while he keeps including new jobs which are part of the economical recovery already on the way. Foreign policy and international trade have become his “Waterloo” in debate and on the campaign trail.
He has not shown empathy for the American people, their living, or suffering during opportune times in his campaign. He has been changing his position on many social issues so frequently that he failed to see the quality of his leadership diluting. Romney might have a five point plan, but people do not have a clue about its value to them.
Voters must listen to both voices in public forums. Both will have their own version of a story with a theme of the “American vision for the next four years.” The story is nonfiction, so narration and style are important elements, but cosmetically only. The crux of the matter would be in consistency, coherence and continuity of the dialogue. If all of these elements satisfy your intuitive mind, then the moment has arrived to continue into the American future with your vote again.
Kirit Desai
Kirit Desai had post graduate degrees from India & USA both - in multiple disciplines. After spending almost 30 years in R & D (as Research Scientist) and research management at a prestigeous Ivy League University, moved into Financial field for past decade & enjoys reading/writing in international business, politics, sports and science/technology. He lives in Delaware valley near Philadelphia.