National
For months before last week's election, Sandra Fleming's agitation grew about President Barack Obama's prospects for a second term.
"I was so worried because my impression was that they were going to get away with stealing this election," Fleming said of the Republican Party. "When I heard that Taggart [which makes voting machines] was bought by [Tagg] Romney, I was like 'Oh God, they're really going to steal it.'"
So she decided to be proactive and volunteered to work at an Obama campaign office in Maryland on a phone bank. It was only after several television stations called the race for Obama on the night of Nov. 6 that she finally exhaled.
As satisfied as Fleming and her husband James are about the outcome, Republicans are in a state of shock at the sound thrashing Obama inflicted on GOP challenger Mitt Romney. Obama swept the Electoral College, amassing a final total of 336 votes and he garnered 50.3 percent of the vote to Romney's 47 percent. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way and all that was left to make their joy complete was Romney's coronation.
Now, instead of Romney measuring the windows of the White House, Republicans are left to contemplate the reasons why they fared so poorly.
Political commentator Armstrong Williams said Republicans can't blame anyone but themselves for the stunning election loss.
"To put it mildly, many in the GOP were not pleased with the outcome of [Tuesday's] elections," said Williams. "This represents a national repudiation of reality: we have tossed out the doctor because we don't like his prognosis. The spending addict does not want an intervention; he wants more spending, no matter what."
"...The Democrats have a mandate to govern, and Republicans are now in an uncomfortable position everywhere. The policies of the last four years have been not only affirmed but, with these ballot initiatives, shown to now be mainstream," he explained. "Our nation's culture has shifted to the Left, validating that self-fulfilling epithet of 'Republican extremism.'"
Lee Saunders, president of the 1.6 million strong American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was exultant.
"This is a good day for the working middle class, the Main Street movement and the American Dream," he said following Obama's victory. "The American people sent a clear message that we will stand with a president who stands with all Americans ... the voters have given a mandate to protect vital programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid and strengthen the middle class."
Republicans on the whole are shell shocked, Newt Gingrich is dumbfounded by Obama's win, Karl Rove refuses to accept it; and the finger-pointing, accusations, and infighting is in full tilt.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal [R], said some candidates had damaged the party's brand with their intemperate statements and he chastised the GOP for being too beholden to the rich and powerful.
"We've got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything," he said. "We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys."
Meanwhile, Obama met with liberal and progressive supporters Tuesday, with members of the business community Wednesday, and on Friday, Nov. 16 was scheduled to meet House Speaker John Boehner [R-Ohio] to begin negotiations on averting the crisis of the country falling off the "fiscal cliff." On December 31, automatic spending cuts and tax increases will be triggered if Congress and Obama fail to seal a deal. According to the Congressional Budget Office, families would pay an average of about $2,000 more next year, an estimated three million jobs would be lost and unemployment would ratchet up to nine percent. Also, America could fall into another recession.
Boehner has indicated a willingness to talk but he is opposed by anti-tax Tea Party members.
In an hour-long teleconference Monday morning, former Clinton White House Counsel Lanny Davis and former GOP Chairman Michael Steele discussed the election and the way forward.
Steele castigated the Republican Party and said it needs to be overhauled or face the prospect of being the minority party for the foreseeable future.
"This is perhaps the most tortured experience I've ever seen a party go through," said Steele, a lawyer who served as Republican National Committee Chairman from 2009-2011. "It becomes painfully obvious that there's an internal struggle as to identity and ideas."
"You realize that something different is happening in American politics," he added. "Now we begin the recriminations and finger-pointing. My estimation: Cut the crap out and recognize your message is tone deaf for many voters and your brand isn't as strong as it once was. The country is moving in a different direction. Fifty thousand Hispanics are turning 18 every month. What is the party prepared to do?"
Davis, who with Steele is co-founder of Purple Nation, a bipartisan public affairs firm, credited Obama's formidable ground game, the broad coalition of support and a campaign which executed "the best media, political and grassroots campaign in eight states."
Davis, former White House counsel in the Clinton administration, said the Simpson-Bowles plan is the only one that can get bipartisan support. Simpson-Bowles was a commission appointed by Obama which advocates a combination of spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget. Steele, who said he hates the word 'bipartisan,' said he wants Republicans to seek consensus without sacrificing their principles and values.
Far from the political fray, Fleming, a 40-year-old mother of one, said practical considerations such as Obama's health care plan fueled her support.
"I had a fear not just for my child but also for my husband that they'd be kicked off our health plan because of their asthma," she said. "I would always be nervous when the provider called. I was extremely grateful when the Affordable Care Act became law. Asthma medication is extremely, extremely expensive."
Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies, has launched a charitable project aimed at eradicating deaths from malaria throughout Africa, while increasing awareness of the disease.
The RLJ by Ella Rose Africa Tie Collection, which is sold at Macy's department stores in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Seattle, and Douglaston, New York, was created in alliance with PVH Neck Wear, with proceeds directly benefiting the "Malaria No More" campaign that was established in December 2006.
"From my work in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa, I understand firsthand the critical impact malaria has on people and communities," said Johnson. "Malaria is completely preventable and treatable, and no one should die from the disease," he continued. "I'm proud to be part of the effort and the progress that has been made so far in the fight against malaria. The purchase of each of the RLJ by Ella Rose Africa ties will have a direct impact on those most affected by malaria and will help save a life."
The goal of the non-profit campaign is to end deaths caused by malaria in Africa by 2015. According to the WHO World Malaria Report 2011, nearly 3.3 billion people – half of the world's population is at risk from malaria. The disease kills 665,000 people each year, mostly children under the age of five and pregnant women in Africa.
When California voters overwhelmingly passed "Three Strikes and You're Out" law in 1994, they believed it would strike fear in the heart of habitual, violent criminals by mandating harsher penalties including a 25-year-to-life prison sentence for some offenders.
But according to research by a University of California, Riverside criminologist, the get-tough-on-criminals policy is costly, ineffective and has done nothing to reduce the crime rate despite expanding the state's prison population.
In a rigorous analysis of crime in California and the nation, sociology professor Robert Nash Parker determined that crime has been decreasing at about the same rate in every state for 20 years, regardless of whether three-strikes policies are in place or not.
"There is not a single shred of scientific evidence, research or data to show that three strikes caused a significant decline in violence in California or elsewhere in the last 20 years," Parker said, adding that the downward trend began two years before the California law was enacted.
Citing "logic, data and research," Parker contends that they uniformly show little or no impact of three strikes policy on violent crime rates in California and elsewhere."
He compared historic crime patterns in California and other states with similar laws to those without such laws and found they "show little difference in ... pattern of violent crime."
Parker cites other studies that attribute crime rate declines to economic and social factors, such as alcohol consumption, rather than policing and sentencing policies and suggests it's "better to use alcohol policy to control violence than three strikes.
"If California's crime decline were a Three Strikes effect, we would expect to see the drop in arrests concentrated among the targeted groups. Instead, the decline is spread evenly over the 90 percent of all potential offenders not affected by Three Strikes and the 10 percent who were."
Parker says were California to change its approach to crime and comply with the Supreme Court order to reduce the prison population, it could save $2.3 billion a year in prison costs.
"California needs to stop gorging itself at the all-you-can-eat buffet of imprisonment," says Parker.
He says while opponents of three strikes reform insist increased incarceration, including longer sentences cause crime to drop, a host of other factors are in play.
He cites improved law enforcement strategies, advances in computer analysis and innovative technology; the waning of the crack cocaine epidemic that soared from 1984 to 1990, which made cocaine cheaply available. The graying of America characterized by the fastest-growing segment of the US population – baby boomers – passing the age of 50 and national campaigns about responsible drinking have affected drinking habits.
His study suggesting a link to alcohol consumption and unemployment provides more fuel for the ever-burning crime debate.
Alcohol plays a major role in violent crime of all types, says Parker.
"Our research in Riverside shows that gang members overwhelmingly favor alcohol use to get ready to do their crimes. The number of arrests for violent crimes where alcohol is a factor has dropped sharply."
In fact says Parker, alcohol consumption has been dropping in the U.S. since the early 1980's. He says the decline in consumption was exacerbated by the recession and the sharp rise in unemployment in targeted areas where violent crime is most prevalent.
According to the August 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, alcohol consumption among young men in particular continues to fall.
Drinking by underage persons (ages 12–20) has declined. Current alcohol use by this age group declined from 28.8 to 26.3 percent between 2002 and 2010, while binge drinking declined from 19.3 to 17.0 percent and the rate of heavy drinking went from 6.2 to 5.1 percent.
Parker's findings appear in the paper "Why California's 'Three Strikes' Fails as Crime and Economic Policy, and What to Do," published recently in the California Journal of Politics and Policy. The online journal publishes cutting-edge research on national, state and local government, electoral politics, and public policy formation and implementation.
California's three strikes law imposes a minimum sentence of 25 years to life on the third felony conviction for offenders with prior serious or violent felony convictions.
Approximately 23,000 individuals have been incarcerated under three strikes. Proposition 36, on the Nov. 6 ballot, would impose the life sentence only when the new felony conviction is serious or violent.
Why not take the money spent on needlessly incarcerating nonviolent criminals and apply it to our fledging public schools, colleges and universities said Parker.
"Our infrastructure is crumbling. We've got three cities in bankruptcy, others are in financial trouble. Californians are now being asked to approve a tax increase to help balance the state's budget. The question before voters in November is, "are we prepared to continue down this costly, unsustainable path or stand up to the fear-mongering and say enough."
Read more: http://www.nnpa.org/news/national/criminologist-three-strikes-study-pegs-decrease-in-crime-to-lower-alcohol-consumption-unemployment/#ixzz2BBmXKtnM
Tiny particles of air pollution contain more hazardous ingredients in non-white and low-income communities than in affluent white ones, a new study shows.
The greater the concentration of Hispanics, Asians, African Americans or poor residents in an area, the more likely that potentially dangerous compounds such as vanadium, nitrates and zinc are in the mix of fine particles they breathe.
Latinos had the highest exposures to the largest number of these ingredients, while whites generally had the lowest.
The findings of the Yale University research add to evidence of a widening racial and economic gap when it comes to air pollution. Communities of color and those with low education and high poverty and unemployment face greater health risks even if their air quality meets federal health standards, according to the article published online in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Fresno are among the metropolitan areas with unhealthful levels of fine particles and large concentrations of poor minorities. More than 50 counties could exceed a new tighter health standard for particulates proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Communities of color and those with low education and high poverty and unemployment may face greater health risks even if their air quality meets federal health standards. A pervasive air pollutant, the fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 is a mixture of emissions from diesel engines, power plants, refineries and other sources of combustion. Often called soot, the microscopic particles penetrate deep into the lungs.
The new study is the first to reveal major racial and economic differences in exposures to specific particle ingredients, some of which are linked to asthma, cardiovascular problems and cancer.
"Numerous studies indicate that some particles are more harmful than others," said lead author Michelle Bell, a professor of environmental health at Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
The particles people breathe include a variety of metals and chemicals, depending on their source. For instance, people living near refineries are exposed to more nickel and vanadium, while those near coal-fired power plants breathe particles with higher sulfate content. Neighborhoods along busy roads have more nitrates from vehicle exhaust.
One such community is Boyle Heights, in East Los Angeles. It is more than 90 percent Hispanic and one of the poorest parts of the city.
Boyle Heights is "surrounded by freeways," said Susan Nakamura, planning manager for the region's South Coast Air Quality Management District, "and a lot of those freeways are used for shipping commercial goods." Four major rail yards emit diesel exhaust nearby, and the area is home to "multiple auto body shops and chrome-platers in close proximity to neighborhoods," she said. She is especially concerned about the particulate sources near schools.
A Nationwide Look
Bell and colleague Keita Ebisu examined exposures to 14 components of particulates in 215 Census tracts from 2000-2006. The components, including sulfate, a powerful respiratory irritant, and nickel, a possible carcinogen, were chosen because they had been associated with health impacts or accounted for a substantial amount of particulates overall.
Census tracts with a greater proportion of Hispanics had significantly higher levels of 11 substances. Included is more than 1.5 times the whites' exposure to nickel, nitrate, silicon, vanadium – all linked in some studies to hospitalizations or deaths from cardiovascular and lung disease – and aluminum, which is associated with low birth weights.
Communities with larger Asian populations had higher levels of seven components. Asians registered far greater exposures than whites to nickel, nitrate and vanadium.
And areas where more African Americans lived showed significant elevations in four compounds, including sulfate and zinc.
People with less than a high-school education, unemployed or living in poverty had more exposure to several components, including silicon and zinc. Also, children and teenagers were more likely than adults to breathe most of the substances.
The demographic differences raise important policy questions, said Rachel Morello-Frosch, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies the health risks of air pollution but was not involved in the Yale study.
Census tracts with a larger proportion of Hispanics had significantly higher levels of 11 substances, including more than 1.5 times the whites' exposures to nickel, nitrate, silicon, vanadium and aluminum. She said targeted monitoring may be needed in problem areas. "Then regulatory agencies may want to assess how they can encourage emissions reductions from sources that are having localized impacts," Morello-Frosch said.
"Our question was: Are places that are more unequal disproportionately exposing communities of color more than other groups?" Morello-Frosch said. "The answer to that is 'yes.' Cities that are more segregated, you see higher pollution burdens for residents of color."
"So if I'm exposed to air pollution but I otherwise live in a pretty nice neighborhood, I don't have a very stressful life... how does that differ from, I'm exposed to air pollution and I live in a cruddy house in a cruddy neighborhood and I have a very stressful life?" Miranda asked. "How do the social factors in my life affect my resiliency to environmental exposure?"
Many Americans Admit Being Unable to See Beyond Candidates' Race
One Sunday morning in 2009, following the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Andrew Manis became incensed enough with the racist attitudes of Macon, Georgia denizens to pen a commentary to whites asking that they 'get over' their fear, anger, and white supremacists feelings toward Blacks. The commentary, entitled "When Are We (White People) Going to Get over It?," was picked up by the Macon Telegraph and in short order Manis, an associate professor of history at Macon State College, had received more than 5 million hits on the piece through Google.
Manis' editorial begged the questions: "How long? How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can – once and for all – get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color?"
Far from being some red faced Southerner feeling the pangs of white guilt, Manis cited the manner in which white conservatives consistently blocked any legislation they viewed as beneficial to non-white Americans, even during the Clinton administration, and the largely coded bigotry that appeared in popular culture during Obama's 2008 bid for the White House. Three years later, Manis, 58, told the Informer that while he cannot clearly gauge whether racist attitudes increased or decreased with Obama's presidency, the nation is hardly a post-racial society because it elected Obama.
"Just because it happened to elect one Black man as president does not make America a post-racial society. To say we are a post-racial society would make as much sense as saying Pakistan is a place where gender equality flourishes because Benazir Bhutto was their head of state. Or that Israel is a paragon of gender equality because they elected Golda Meir. White America continues to pretend that it is just an accident that African Americans remain about twice as vulnerable in statistics related to economic success – about twice as bad as for white people and that it has been that way for more than 50 years," Manis said.
A recent Associated Press poll supports Manis' position, finding that four years after Obama's election, the majority of white Americans express prejudice toward Blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not. In all, 51 percent of whites expressed explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of whites with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election.
Had it not been for Jeremiah Wright, Obama may not have addressed race, "blackness" or any issues that were specifically germane to people of color during the 2008 election in Manis' estimation. Still, roughly 57 percent of whites over the age of 29, voted for [John] McCain.
"There is this idea that a Black president is going to hurt us, and take our money and give it to his people and that he is going to make us hurt the way we made his people hurt. There is some guilt there, some recognition that white people have historically made Black people hurt in this country. You get this language and when [Rush] Limbaugh says that one cannot get a job in the Obama administration unless they hate white people, one has to ask from where this is coming?" said Manis, who is Greek.
Similarly, Manis notes that with the exception of the Great Depression, every time concerns have been raised about big government, it has had some indirect connection to Black people in America, the issue of race, or of slavery.
"I would go a step further on big government than Mark Noll did with his book "God and Race in America" and remind conservatives who are anti-big government that the entire decision to write a Constitution was a move in the direction of a bigger government because it was clear that America did not possess a big enough, strong enough, government to sustain the nation. So if you can depict Obama's lean toward more government involvement with health care as a reason why you oppose a Black president, it is easy to see you simply want to keep the systems currently in power, in power," Manis said.
"When you have been king all of your life, equality feels like a demotion. White evangelical Protestants have been kings throughout most of American history until they were forced to accept other kinds of people at the table of equality. That is why they are talking about taking back their country. They have had to relinquish absolute control in the last 50 years," Manis said.
Political Scientist Wilmer J. Leon, III, posits the white anger as part of a return to white nationalist thought that lends itself to demands like, "We want our country back?" To which Leon asks "Who took it?" Evident in Tea Party rhetoric that cloaked racist language with chants of Americanism and popular culture attempts at pushing the lines of decorum, mass media has documented everything from the first lady represented as a bare-chested emancipated slave, to the president as a "hood boy" in wife-beater T-shirt and sagging pants.
"Racism has not gotten worse; however, there are those who are viewing things negatively through a racial prism and their perspectives have come to the surface. I don't believe the election made someone not racially bias, into someone who is. It did exacerbate what was already there though. In terms of the African-American community, the symbolism of an African-American president has been invaluable and incredibly powerful," Leon said.
A teaching associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University, Leon said that while Obama became a figure of ethnic pride for countless people of color, particularly African Americans, the economic downturn helped create a great deal of racial animus.
"When the economic tide starts to contract, it makes sense that white people embrace things that they hold most dear: religion, guns, and their xenophobia. The president caricatured and depicted as a primate, Congressman John Lewis being spat upon and called a 'nigger' while walking to the House to vote about a year and half ago, and South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson calling the President a 'liar', are very tangible examples of how white folks have clearly demonstrated their bigotry and their reaction to the fact that there is an African American around," Leon said.
The office of commander in chief, said Leon, demanded a certain level of respect until a Black man took office. Afterward, white Americans became disrespectful of the office itself because of the individual holding it.
Colin Powell's former chief of staff, Ret. Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, concluded as much when he told MSNBC's Ed Schultz, "My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people – not all of them, but most of them – who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander in chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable."
Still, Manis and Leon, both, remain hopeful with Manis pointing to the popularity of Obama among young white and minority voters. It signals a hope that "the bigotry of one generation can be eliminated among younger whites." Leon, as well, holds out hope that America can get over its racist attitudes and "become what it is supposed to be," Leon said.
Revelations about former Assistant New Hanover County District Attorney James "Jay" Stroud Jr.'s racial jury gerrymandering, and his plot to cause a mistrial to impanel a "KKK" type jury in the Wilmington Ten case forty years ago were "stunning and beyond outrage," say two veteran civil rights attorneys.
Those facts alone, they add, justify individual pardons of innocence from NC Gov. Beverly Perdue for the Wilmington Ten.
"It is stunning, and beyond outrage, to learn the level of prosecutorial abuse that dominated, infected, and ultimately drove the outcome in the Wilmington Ten trials," says Prof. Gene R. Nichol, Boyd Tinsley Distinguished professor at the UNC School of Law at UNC – Chapel Hill, after reviewing portions of what is now known as "the Stroud files."
"This intense abuse of governmental authority, prosecutorial misconduct — both professional and racial — casts a long shadow over the North Carolina system of justice, Prof. Nichol continued. "It also, of course, worked massive and unforgivable constitutional injury on the lives of ten North Carolinians."
"The prosecutor made mockery of his high office by knowingly, intentionally, and purposefully placing perjured testimony at the heart of the trial. It is also clear now, in ways not demonstrated by documentary evidence before, that he tainted the trial initiation process and vital jury selection through patent, overt, and outcome-determinative racism."
"It is crucial that North Carolina act to admit and concede such a potent and defining abuse of power," Prof. Nichol maintains. "To allow public servants to behave in such a fashion, without remedy, is literally intolerable."
Al McSurely, a veteran Chapel Hill civil rights attorney and NCNAACP Executive Committee member, also expressed his "outrage."
"The prosecutor's notes are clear and convincing evidence that race was not just a factor in his selection of the ten whites and two blacks on the Pender jury that convicted the Wilmington Ten," attorney McSurely said. "Race was the only factor. Forty years later, we know his real motives. I believe when the governor studies this evidence, she will do the right thing and sign the pardons."
"I can barely contain my outrage at the blatant racism of an officer of the court," attorney McSurely added.
This stinging legal analysis comes after the fortieth anniversary of the convictions of the ten civil rights activists for crimes they maintain they did not commit.
On Oct. 17th, 1972, nine young black males and one white female – all led by the Rev. Benjamin Chavis of the United Church of Christ – were falsely convicted during their second trial of conspiracy in connection with racial violence that gripped Wilmington in February 1971.
The Stroud files now cast a large shadow over those convictions.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced in Greenville last week that it was formally supporting the pardons of innocence effort for the Wilmington Ten.
Remarks by the President on Election Night
THE PRESIDENT: Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. (Applause.)
It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression; the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope -- the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family, and we rise or fall together, as one nation, and as one people. (Applause.)
Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come. (Applause.)
I want to thank every American who participated in this election. (Applause.) Whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time -- (applause) -- by the way, we have to fix that. (Applause.) Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone -- (applause) -- whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard, and you made a difference. (Applause.)
I just spoke with Governor Romney, and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. (Applause.) We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply, and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service, and that is a legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. (Applause.)
In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward. (Applause.)
I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America's happy warrior -- (applause) -- the best Vice President anybody could ever hope for -- Joe Biden. (Applause.)
And I wouldn't be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago. (Applause.) Let me say this publicly -- Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation's First Lady. (Applause.) Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes, you're growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom. (Applause.) And I'm so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now, one dog is probably enough. (Laughter.)
To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics -- (applause) -- the best. The best ever. (Applause.) Some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together, and you will have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful President. Thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every valley. (Applause.) You lifted me up the whole way. And I will always be grateful for everything that you've done and all the incredible work that you put in. (Applause.)
I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos, or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies, and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late at a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else.
You'll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who's worked his way through college, and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. (Applause.) You'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift. (Applause.) You'll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse who's working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job, or a roof over their head when they come home. (Applause.)
That's why we do this. That's what politics can be. That's why elections matter. It's not small; it's big. It's important.
Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won't change after tonight -- and it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty, and we can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today. (Applause.)
But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers -- (applause) -- a country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.
We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt; that isn't weakened by inequality; that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. (Applause.)
We want to pass on a country that's safe and respected and admired around the world; a nation that is defended by the strongest military on Earth and the best troops this world has ever known -- (applause) -- but also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being.
We believe in a generous America; in a compassionate America; in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant's daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. (Applause.) To the young boy on the South Side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner. (Applause.) To the furniture worker's child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a President. That's the future we hope for. That's the vision we share. That's where we need to go. Forward. (Applause.) That's where we need to go.
Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It's not always a straight line. It's not always a smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end all the gridlock, or solve all our problems, or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus, and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is where we must begin.
Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over. (Applause.) And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you. And you've made me a better President. With your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do, and the future that lies ahead. (Applause.)
Tonight, you voted for action, not politics as usual. (Applause.) You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together: reducing our deficit; reforming our tax code; fixing our immigration system; freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do. (Applause.)
But that doesn't mean your work is done. The role of citizen in our democracy does not end with your vote. America has never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. (Applause.) That's the principle we were founded on.
This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong. Our university, culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on Earth -- the belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to future generations; that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for comes with responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes America great. (Applause.)
I am hopeful tonight because I have seen this spirit at work in America. I've seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job.
I've seen it in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them, watching their back. (Applause.)
I've seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. (Applause.)
And I saw it just the other day in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his eight-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything, had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care. (Applause.) I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd, listening to that father's story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes, because we knew that little girl could be our own. And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright.
That's who we are. That's the country I'm so proud to lead as your President. (Applause.) And tonight, despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I've never been more hopeful about our future. (Applause.) I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope.
I'm not talking about blind optimism -- the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us, so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. (Applause.)
America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made, and continue to fight for new jobs, and new opportunity, and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founding -- the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or where you love -- it doesn't matter whether you're black or white, or Hispanic or Asian, or Native American, or young or old, or rich or poor, abled, disabled, gay or straight -- you can make it here in America if you're willing to try. (Applause.)
I believe we can seize this future together -- because we are not as divided as our politics suggest; we're not as cynical as the pundits believe; we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions; and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and forever will be, the United States of America. (Applause.) And together, with your help, and God's grace, we will continue our journey forward, and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth. (Applause.)
Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States. (Applause.)
Source: Whitehouse.gov
President Barack Obama won re-election to a second term by handily beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday.
Obama's win ends a long and nasty race that up until the end was too close to call. Romney was unable to run the table on the swing states needed to take him above the 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim victory. He had to capture all or most of the 13 battleground states, including Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin but fell short. He managed to grab North Carolina and Indiana. Well past midnight, one percentage point separated Romney and Obama in Florida and Virginia.
Obama campaign honchos were confidence, saying they expected the "ground game" to take care of business. Ultimately, the nation's 44th president swept 11 of those states as well as the popular vote.
Avis Jones DeWeever never had any doubt about the outcome.
"I do believe that the president will win on Tuesday," said DeWeever during an interview two days before the election. "Substantial shenanigans would be the only reason he wouldn't win. I'm American and a political scientist and I don't understand why it's this close. If Romney wins, given him holding back information and blatantly lying and answering both sides of an issue, it would provide a tremendous blow to the body politic."
Ordinary Washingtonians were elated.
"I'm ecstatic, relieved that President Obama was re-elected, that's all that I can say" said Carolyn Robertson, a 50-ish Southeast resident. The people knew exactly what they were doing. A lot of women voted for Obama while [Mitt] Romney basically attacked them when he referred to the 47 percent of victims, and that's what hurt him."
Maxine Charles agreed.
"I'm glad he was re-elected. He needs four more years to carry out his plans," said Charles, 68, also of Southeast. "Things are going to turn around and it will be a slow process, but things will be better."
Romney made a gracious concession speech after it became apparent that his cause was lost.
"The nation is at a critical time, we can't continue to engage in bickering," he said. "It's time for both parties to put the people before the politics ... we have to reach across the aisle."
Romney said he did the best he could to present his vision for America but voters made another choice.
Shortly after receiving a phone call from Romney two hours after he was declared the winner, Obama addressed an adoring crowd.
At Obama's Chicago headquarters at McCormick Place, more than 10,000 jubilant supporters of all hues, ethnicities and ages swayed, sang and cheered, basking in the glow of a hard-fought victory. The crowd was considerably smaller than the massive throng at Grant Park in 2008 but they were in a party mood.
Three days before the election, Audrey Anderson spent more than four hours in a long line under a blazing Fort Lauderdale sun waiting for her chance to cast a ballot.
The British native said she came prepared with a book, bottled water and large amounts of patience on Saturday, Nov. 3.
"Most of my friends and I are for Obama," said the 44-year-old events director. "He's not perfect but he stands for something. We understand what he's saying because he speaks our language."
Anderson, a Fort Lauderdale resident, said she was struck by a barrage of electoral problems affecting South Florida such as Broward election offices running out of ballots, voters having to wait in long lines and Republican Gov. Rick Scott's refusing to extend early voting hours.
"I just think there's some serious cheating going on, but I'm confident of his victory," she said. "I'm surprised it was this close. They kept on saying that it would be but I never believed it."
Political pundits characterized Obama's victory as historic because of the masterful way a black man secured a second presidential term. His campaign team is credited with using advanced market segmentation, metrics, and micro-targeting, an army of campaign workers, a few million phone calls and an energized base along with a coalition of African Americans, Latinos, women and young people to win.
Obama, his wife Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia strolled out to meet a rapturous crowd at 1:37 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. He smiled broadly as people cheered loudly and waved small American flags.
"Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!" they chanted.
"Tonight more than 200 years after a former colony earned the right to decide its own destiny, despite the tasks that we're facing, we are moving forward," he intoned.
Obama spoke of the extreme difficulties the country has faced.
"While the journey has been hard [but] we have picked ourselves up, clawed our way out and we know in our hearts that in the United States of America, the best is yet to come," he said to loud cheers.
Obama thanked all who voted, particularly those who worked in far away, isolated places on behalf of the campaign.
"You made your voice heard and you made a difference," he said. "We may have battled fiercely but it's only because we love this country so deeply."
Obama won't have much time to savor the victory. Early on Election night, House Speaker John Boehner [R-Ohio], announced that Obama shouldn't make the mistake of thinking his win means he can raise taxes on the rich and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell [R. Ky.] – who made it clear that his primary job was to make Obama a one-term president – also threw down the gauntlet.
Political Scientist and Howard University Professor Wilmer Leon said he wishes Obama and his surrogates would do more to highlight the reality of Republican obstructionism.
Leon, 53, said Obama needs to be much more assertive and take more time to explain to the public what the opposition is doing and why.
"It's not that the president is a divider. People like McConnell have said from the outset that he planned to make the president a one-termer," he said. "The president can't change the landscape. He needs to change the way he traverses the landscape. You can't negotiate and placate people who are looking to [your] political demise. He has to confront them at every turn, use the bully pulpit to show what he feels and what his position is."
DeWeever, 44, concurred.
"With regard to the stonewalling, I'd like to see the president become more aggressive in pushing his issues, using the bully pulpit, and communicating more with the public – the modern day version of fireside chats," said the mother of two.
She said the first issue Obama faces is the 'fiscal cliff' issue. Trying to develop a compromise will be a challenge ...they may kick it down the road [but] I think they will figure out a way to make it happen."
Although voters have expressed anger about the political stalemate in Washington, D.C., the status quo remains: Republicans still control the House of Representatives and Democrats, the Senate.
"It's well known and reported that they have uniformly rejected everything," said DeWeever. "It's interesting to see if they'll [Republicans] continue to see that s a strategy if they lose."
One Houston housewife expressed frustration with the intractable infighting.
"This is done. Voters have decided and now people have to move on," said Sheila Price. "We cannot continue doing this because there are so many troubling issues that elected officials must handle. They get caught up in selfish squabbling when they should be working for the greater good, for the good of the people they have been elected to serve."
Congresswoman Norton, D.C. Council Members Retain Posts
President Barack Obama won a second term on Tuesday against Republican contender Mitt Romney in a tight, yet historic race.
Out of some 99 million votes that were cast from 75 percent of the nation's precincts, Obama led by about 25,000 votes to hold a narrow advantage over his opponent.
"You made your voice heard, and you made a difference," Obama said in a speech shortly before midnight in Chicago where he was surrounded by his family. "I will return to the White House more inspired and more determined than ever . . . We've got more work to do."
In conceding his loss in one of the country's most expensive and closest presidential races where Obama claimed crucial victories in the state of Ohio and swing states of Virginia, Nevada, Iowa and Colorado, Romney commented that this has been a time of great challenge for the nation.
"I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation," Romney said to supporters in Boston.
In local District government races, David Grosso declared victory for the at-large D.C. Council seat over embattled incumbent Michael Brown, and Vincent Orange also retained his at-large post.
Trayon White defeated Phil Pannell for the Ward 8 School Board post, and Councilman Marion Barry easily defeated independent Jauhar Abraham, to win his third consecutive term to serve Ward 8.
Other Council members to win re-election were Yvette Alexander who defeated Republican Ron Moten, and Muriel Bowser and Jack Evans – both of whom ran unopposed.
Phil Mendelson will also retain his post as Council chairman, and veteran D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton trounced two opponents in keeping her seat on Capitol Hill.
A life-sized bronze statue of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer was unveiled at the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Gardens in Ruleville, Miss., Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. Hamer, who died of cancer in 1977, drew national attention in 1964 when she and other members of the racially integrated Freedom Democratic Party challenged the seating of Mississippi's all-white delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
She is remembered across the world as the woman who was "sick and tired of being sick and tired."
On Oct. 5, hundreds came from across the United States to remember Fannie Lou Hamer, a tireless civil rights advocate during her lifetime, at the unveiling of a statue built in her honor in her hometown of Ruleville, Miss.
"What was it James Brown sang? I feel good," Hamer's daughter, Vergie Hamer Faulkner, said on seeing her mother's statue, according to the Clarion Ledger.
Hamer was born Fannie Lou Townsend on Oct. 6, 1917, to sharecroppers. She later worked as a sharecropper and timekeeper on a plantation in Sunflower County, Miss. She died March 14, 1977.
Many remember Hamer for her unstinting passion for civil and human rights, equality and justice. Her activism probably began in 1962 when she decided to go register to vote and was told she would have to leave the plantation where she had lived and worked for 18 years.
"I didn't go register for you sir, I did it for myself," Hamer challenged her boss W. D. Marlowe, according to the statue committee's website.
From then on she dedicated herself to registering Black voters and other social causes, and suffered imprisonment, beatings and assassination attempts. But she persevered.
Hamer helped organize the racially diverse Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the seating of an all-White Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Her defining speech before the assembly was so eloquent and so fiery that President Lyndon Johnson called a press conference to try and divert attention away from her. But national networks later ran her speech in its entirety and a national audience sat spellbound by her conviction and her truths.
Speaking of her beating at the hands of highway patrolmen in Winona she asked, "Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?"
Such oratorical skill and fearlessness seemed to belie her beginnings.
"Fannie Lou Hamer went from being a sharecropper, born and raised in one of the most racist and bigoted areas in our country, to becoming a strong, black female who was so articulate and such an incredible motivator," said Reena Evers-Everette, the daughter of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, as quoted by TheGrio.com. "She changed the course of history especially in the field of politics and the Democratic Party."
The last several weeks have been especially busy for Lee Saunders but the union leader would have it no other way. He relishes a fight, particularly when it falls within the purview of labor and he sees this year's presidential contest as the perfect example of the stark choices Americans face.
Saunders, the first African-American president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees [AFSCME] has spent large chunks of time over the last few months on the stomp in swing states for the Obama administration.
"I've been here for 34 years and we're under attack like I've never seen," Saunders, 60, said during a recent interview about the assault by Republicans on organized labor. "They're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to take us out. We're a powerful force of 1.6 million people, 35 percent in state and local government and 6.9 percent in the private sector. They have been pretty good at decimating the public sector."
"We have to rebuild. We stand in their way as an organized force, boots on the ground and connected to the grassroots ... we'll continue to fight in Ohio, Wisconsin. We've got to fight in every state and mobilize. The challenges are great, people are under pressure."
To the question often asked by Republican challenger Mitt Romney about whether Americans are better off than four years ago, Saunders' answer was unequivocal.
"A resounding yes!" he said, ticking off the Affordable Care Act, the creation of millions of jobs, and the bailout of the automobile industry as examples of what President Barack Obama has done during the past four years.
"Is there more work to be done? Yes. He inherited a big mess [but] he's well on the way to rebuilding the economy and the working class, but he does have his enemies," said Saunders as he swiveled in his chair in his downtown Washington office.
Saunders acknowledged the myriad challenges unions across the country face. In Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker, under the aegis of the Koch brothers, eviscerated public workers'unions by signing a law limiting collective bargaining for the majority of public workers. Unions, however, were unsuccessful in recalling him. A Wisconsin state judge overturned the law and it's being appealed by Walker. Since 2010, Republicans have engaged in a sustained attack designed to weaken unions since they are major fundraisers for the Democratic Party. GOP-controlled legislatures have stayed busy and so far, 23 states have passed a right-to-work law that inhibits unions' power to collect fees from non-union employees. Walker and other anti-union politicians continue to target state and local employees.
And, voters in cities like San Jose and San Diego elected to cut retirement benefits for public employees in an attempt to balance shaky budgets, while the Los Angeles City Council has floated a plan to do the same for newly hired employees.
"We've taken some hits in some states," he said. "We're organizing 50,000 new members ... young people are the next wave. We're concentrating on AFSCME members 35 and under. It's important to [acknowledge] differences, accept it and change. Young people think differently, communicate in a different way, such as computers. We have to relate to them, talk to them, mentor them."
Saunders, who grew up in a union household where his father was a bus driver and his mom a professor at a local community college and community activist, said unions have to do a better job educating the public about the gains the entire society has made because of unions.
"Labor built the middle class," he said. "[Unions are responsible for] issues ... such as social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the 40-hour work week."
Saunders said union members were intimately involved with the Democratic National Convention with a number of union members serving as delegates. He said he believes in unions and also believes they have an important place in society.
"The president supports unions, supports the 99 percent and the 99 percent are suffering," he said.
Saunders said the Romney plan will set Americans back in a number of ways. For example, he wants to make the Medicare program a coupon program; gut Medicaid; and not raise taxes.
"It's unbelievable to me that they think that prescription would work," he said. "They don't get it. Romney said 47 percent would never support him – said they were bums – vets, seniors. This country is in a state. That's why we have to fight so hard."
Saunders said he planned to be actively campaigning in swing states until Nov. 6. He said he expected 80,000 union activists and staff to work tirelessly to re-elect Obama.
"We'll be leafleting, making phone calls, knocking on doors, talking to people who may not be union members," he said. "We'll never be able to compete with Romney and the Koch brothers. Members and non-members going door-to-door is huge. It will prove to be the turning point and will put the president back in office."
Saunders, a married father of two, said his 34 years in the union dovetails into his desire for public service.
"Based on my upbringing, I knew I wanted to do something to help people, be an advocate," he said. "I work to make lives better. I conducted research and collective bargaining at AFSCME. I traveled a lot. I enjoyed what I was doing. I have a high level of commitment and I am dedicated to being a fighter ... [the union offers] ... a better life and [is helping build] the middle class."
"I'm a fighter willing to think out of the box."
And until Obama can declare victory, Saunders said he'll be on the move.
"I'm on the road almost every weekend," he said. "It's important not to sit here in my office. I have to be where the members are. I have to walk shoulder-to-shoulder. We're going into battle. I work hard but I enjoy what I'm doing. It benefits not just the union but working families too."
Dr. LaMont Penry sat at La Bistro Bonne in Northwest with a group of debate watchers Monday night, shaking his head from time-to-time and grimaced as he watched the sparring match in the third and final presidential debate.
At the end of the debate, which took place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and two weeks before the Nov. 6 general election, Penry's disappointment was palpable.
"I don't think that [Mitt] Romney came very prepared. Most of his jargon is repetitive and he was totally on the defensive," said Penry, a self-described 'Army brat' from North Carolina. "He goes back to when he was governor only to be made a complete fool of by something he said he did 10 years ago."
Penry was referring to Romney's assertion that 4th and 8th grade students ranked No. 1 in English and math while he was governor.
"But that was 10 years before you took office," Obama said twice, leaving Romney struggling to continue.
Penry said he is flabbergasted listening to Romney repeatedly and boldly deny statements and positions he once embraced.
"He denied on national TV that he didn't say troops should leave Afghanistan – blatant dishonesty. Typical Bush, typical Republican," he said. "He comes up with analogies that have no bearing. The concern I have is that people out there aren't informed."
At the end of the day, Penry said, he believes the third debate will make a critical difference.
"This debate has made a heck of a difference in terms of who's more believable," he explained. "This is about trust."
Pedra Chaffers, a teacher who recently relocated to the District, disagreed about the debate's importance.
"I don't know if the debate will make a difference," said the 46-year-old Anacostia resident. "For some people, it will clarify some things. That doesn't hurt."
Chaffers, however, said she questions Romney's motive for his desire to become president.
"I think Romney really wants to be president but hasn't really said how," she said.
Chaffers and Penry were among a small crowd of debate watchers at the bistro at an event sponsored by the Caribbean Professional Network on Oct. 22.
Obama and Romney discussed troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, the unrest and sectarian problems in Pakistan; Iran's attempts to become a nuclear nation; the ousting of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi; support for Israel and the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and other parts of the Middle East.
Even as Romney eschewed many of the positions he offered when seeking the GOP presidential nomination, Obama hammered him and cast a bright light on his many inconsistencies. The president castigated Romney, saying he was all over the map on a number of issues. The signature zinger of the night came as Obama ridiculed Romney's criticism of his defense strategy.
"The budget that we are talking about is not reducing our military spending. It is maintaining it. But I think Governor Romney maybe hasn't spent enough time looking at how our military works," Obama said. "You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines."
"And so the question is not a game of Battleship, where we're counting ships. It's what are our capabilities."
Romney supporters lauded his performance and campaign aides exulted that the debate has not slowed the momentum he grabbed when he surprised Obama and beat him handily in the first debate.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Romney as saying that he could withstand two more weeks of attacks from Barack Obama but the country could not handle another four years of the president. Running mate Paul Ryan declared that Obama has run out of ideas, which is why he is running a small campaign about small things and hoping that he can distract people from the reality ...
Reaction to the last of three debates is decidedly mixed. While all the snap polls taken immediately after the debate gave Obama a clear win, it will be several days before it is known if that translates to a bump in the polls. At the moment, both men are running neck-and-neck with Obama maintaining an edge in Ohio and Wisconsin, while being slightly behind or within the margin of error in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.
Romney was described as tentative, incoherent, unsure. Rather than present distinctive differences in his foreign policy portfolio, a range of critics, including the New York Times, criticized him for bringing little of consequence to the debate.
"Mitt Romney has nothing really coherent or substantive to say about domestic policy, but at least he can sound energetic and confident about it," according to an editorial published in the Times on Tuesday, Oct. 23. "On foreign policy, the subject of Monday night's final presidential debate, he had little coherent to say and often sounded completely lost. That's because he has no original ideas of substance on most world issues, including Syria, Iran and Afghanistan."
Penry and Alton Drew, an Atlanta-based legal and policy analyst, both said that they wished that Romney had better outlined his vision of foreign policy in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Drew, a Libertarian said he's deeply disappointed with both parties and both candidates, saying he would vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. He did say that if pushed, he would vote for Obama while holding his nose.
Drew said he's not surprised the combatants weren't able to drill deeply into some of foreign policy's juicier, more complex issues. And even to do so, would cause viewers to nod off, he said.
"It depends on how closely you follow policy. It's very difficult to get substantive in an hour- and-a-half. You can only get to so many details," said the 49-year-old father of one.
"You can only get to the tip of the iceberg. If you want to bore people to sleep, talk about foreign policy."
"It was part performance. Romney knew that there was too far to go with Benghazi – it's too complicated. Distinguishing a position doesn't mean you bring anything new."
To someone who makes their decision based on feelings they probably leaned to Obama, Drew said.
"If you were into the boxing match of it, it was a good debate. But there was no substance which was surprising," he said. "Romney allowed Obama to pull him to the middle. I asked on Facebook did Ann Romney know who she was hugging last night? Romney flip-flops. He's betting that people who are seeing him for the first time don't know what he said last week."
"Critics and pundits keep saying people are getting to know him. If you're serious about voting for someone, you avoid pundits. People are swayed by the NBCs and the Foxs. If people want to know where Romney stands, they can go to his website or Google it, but we don't invest that much time. He's making the bet that people in the middle don't know him."
Featured Poll
ADVERTISMENT
ADVERTISMENT