The Alternative

The Republican base is so fond of expressing their virulent, often irrational hatred of Barack Obama. They actually have little to say about the alternative, Mitt Romney, his proposals and prospects for changing the economy or foreign policy. That is understandable because Mitt, being a serial flip-flopper, changes his positions so often that it is difficult to know what he stands for. He has changed positions on abortion rights, nationalizing MA's RomneyCare, Support for Tarp/Stimulus, Stem Cell research, minimum wage, immigration amnesty, Social Security privatization, campaign spending limits, global warming, banning assault weapons… just to name a few.

Lets face it. The man is weak. He lacks any conviction and the courage to stand behind his beliefs (what ever they may be on any given day). His views will change based on whatever presents him with the best opportunity to satisfy his blind ambition. That lack of conviction has led him to get in bed with the social conservatives. He has adopted the radical Tea Party views of anti-abortion choice, anti-gay marriage equality, anti-immigration reform, anti-birth control access… you get the idea. With his VP choice of Tea Party's poster-boy Paul Ryan, it will be awfully hard to shake off the influence of these social conservatives and evangelicals. This weakness of conviction and history of flip-flops will be his ultimate downfall during the debates and weeks following up to the election.

One thing he has stood firm on is the economic policy of George W. Bush. You know, those policies that REALLY pushed our economy off the financial cliff in late 2008; the policy of lowering tax rates for the highest tax brackets and deregulating finance and business. These are the policies that led to the reckless behavior of Wall Street and toxic mortgage trading that ultimately destroyed the housing markets, plummeted stocks and led to losing jobs at the rate of 750,000 per month resulting in a +10.6% unemployment by the time it had bottomed out. That trend has since been reversed and has been slowly but steadily improving despite a shameless Republican congress bent on obstructing any White House legislation to increase job growth.

So what does Mitt Romney have to offer? Return to the tried and failed Bush policies, a weakness of character, and a social conservative agenda. Yeah, that is some great vision for the future. I think I'll stick with Barack Obama. I think most of America will do the same.