(ThyBlackMan.com) President Obama’s re-election campaign is off and running. In fact it is “Forward.” It is so “Forward” it’s looking backwards at all that has been accomplished in the three years since President Obama has been President to denote just how far “Forward” we’ve moved. If you didn’t watch the seven minute video of just how “Forward” we are, the Obama crew is giving you “Forward” in smaller doses. Below is one of the newest ad released today in several swing states including my own of Florida.
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That ad is called “Go.” It lays out what the President has done and what he has still yet to do. It also frames the narrative for when Obama and Mitt Romney meet face to face in a debate. On the campaign trail Romney is able to take a liberal paintbrush to depict the climate of the country of today from where it was four years ago. Romney is all about protecting big business and corporate interest in the name of creating jobs. He’s all about attacking the President on not creating enough jobs and for increasing the unemployment rate because the President broke a promise he should have never made.
In addition to being loose with the facts, the former Massachusetts Governor also engages in revisionist history. Nowhere does he state the economy was given to him Obama in a bag covered in a steaming pile of poo. He just blames 
the President for not fixing in three years what took decades to create. I don’t just blame W for the mess of the economy. I blame the Democrats Presidential hero William Jefferson Clinton. While Obama may never attack his much needed ally for the repeal of Glass Stegall, the point needs to be made that no one man, no one President is solely responsible for the craptastic state of our country. They all did it.
That is a narrative that won’t be found on either party’s side even though it is the truth. Therein lies the problem with campaigns. The ads are so convincing, so slick, so persuasive, yet subtle enough to make you think about the world we live in through a specific set of lenses while disregarding the other factors that contributed to the problem, crisis or disaster trying to be solved.
Case In Point:
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At issue in this election will be questions of race and immigration, women’s rights, unemployment and wage equality, the right to health care and having health insurance as well as where the U.S. stands — the beacon of freedom that it is — on deposing dictators, assassinating citizens, and taking control of any foreign policy situation we see fit when we feel like it.
On Race and Immigration:
The February 26th shooting death of Trayvon Martin by former Sanford neighborhood watch captain added fuel to an already intense fire on where the United States is in terms of race relations in the time of the first Black President. Add to this tinder box Arizona’s immigration law and its copycats and what we have in 2012 is a climate ripe for a showdown on whose America this is and who should make up the majority of it. 20 years after the L.A. riots responded to an acquittal in the beating of Rodney King Black people in America are still killed senselessly and their brown brethren are treated as suspects due to their speech pattern and complexion though they may have ties to this country as deep as any Native American living on a reservation.
Both Romney and Obama are reluctant to discuss race. One is awkward at doing so because in now way can he relate. The other is meticulous because he knows his words on the subject will be quickly misconstrued since he descends directly from the African diaspora.
The subject will not be able to be avoided and one of these candidates will have to take on the topic as President in a way that doesn’t alienate whole swaths of the country.
On Women’s Rights:
Quite frankly since there isn’t a woman running for President or Vice President on either side — as of yet — I feel both Mitt Romney and President Obama should try to put the issue of women’s rights aside. Let Roe v. Wade stand as it is. It is settled law and until it is re-litigated before the Supreme Court and a different ruling decided it will remain the law of this land no matter who begrudges it. The laws to block abortion and contraceptive access in the states is wholly egregious but the 10th amendment allows states to act a fool on issues where the Federal government is not interfering. Likewise, the Justice Department and even the local State Attorney’s Office has the right to take those states to task if they wild out too much.
On the issue of women’s rights many states are out of control and the reaction from the federal level and the campaign trail has been muddled and confusing. Romney can’t pick a position and Obama doesn’t want to piss off the wrong people. In the end if the health care rule is not upheld women’s lives will remain as they are. Paying high prices for pills, patches, rings and IUD’s, paying co-pays for preventive care, and having the right to choose and still be hassled but choosing none the less.
The war on women isn’t manufactured it just simply can’t be won by the left or the right.
On Unemployment and Wage Equality:
On this issue neither side is necessarily stronger than the other. President Obama can argue he saved the economy from collapse. Mitt Romney will argue Obama’s policies failed, killed jobs and never went far enough to restore the economy. Both arguments are failures for the simple fact the economy is recovering but much slower than the Obama administration expected. Not a complete failure but not a clear victory either. Romney fails because of his follies on the campaign trail. Even in jest no one should ever say aloud “I like to fire people.” As far as his economic record in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Romney was in and out fast enough and was so moderate that he may have left the commonwealth in a better shape than he found it.
Yet while the economy is a moot point. President Obama wins on wage equality. Republicans fundamentally believe capitalism is perfect. They find nothing wrong with the economic system that when applied forces economic Darwinism into practice and kills the seckless segment every time. Believing in a policy where only the strong survive was okay in the 50s — for both the economy and the environment — but with so many man made disasters the strong never have a chance at survival because the only one’s that survive are the ones that write the rules of the game.
Neither side will do anything to change the wage gap in this country as long as the Houses of Congress remain divided. But small victory for the one side that has come down correctly on the ideology that America is lost in the quest for greed and as a whole we are suffering.
This is not politics of envy. I don’t wan’t Governor Romney’s money, I want my own. This is not class warfare. I don’t need to be Mark Zuckerburg I just want my salary to be enough so that I’m not just working to live. This is math because at the end of the day when I look at my check, my education, and my bills and what the super rich contribute it just doesn’t add up. Ever.
The Right to Health Care/Insurance:
Romney did it first. That’s my only argument. Yes, he did it at the state level and is thus protected by the 10th amendment. But he still did it first. And as the flip flopper would have it he applauded the Obama measure before he derided it. Simple fact: Both believe in Medicare before all, one believes it so much to make it a national platform, the other is a Judas; believing at heart but betraying the American people in the end in an effort to win an election.
There is a special place in hell for people like that.
On Foreign Policy:
Bin laden is dead. Anwar al-Awlaki is dead and the Justice Department made a legal case for all those like me who think it is wrong to assassinate an American citizen for why they were able to do so. Tunisia’s and Egypt’s dictators are out of office. Libya’s dictator is dead because we started the Libyan offensive for the Libyans. Talk that we’re not moving fast enough in Syria is ridiculous. We can’t arm every country that wants a way out of shackles.
As a country we fought and died to protect what belongs to us, our inalienable rights. Our soldiers and Marines and Navy seamen continue to do so.
Revolution is not easy. It means war and death and hopefully in the end a God ordained victory for the right side. Everyone needs allies, the U.S. had France, Libya had the U.S. But we are not the only country that believes in freedom and democracy. We cannot always take the lead in world battles. That’s how we get into fights that aren’t ours and led to make commitments we should never have been committed too.
We can stand down and be strong. A leader picks and chooses their battles. Not bullies their way through a fight on the fact sheer strength will do the job.
And if there is a problem with the President politicizing the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Get over it.
He never did this:
This my friends was never our mission.
How has the way President Obama and Mitt Romney framed the election narrative changed your views on the issues?
Staff Writer; Nikesha Leeper
To connect with this sister feel free to visit; Change Comes Slow.
