last good country

For Pete’s sake

I’ve watched most of the Republican debates.

I know a lot of Democrats say that Mitt Romney is the person we’d least like to face in November. That Romney is the most electable of the Republicans.

It’s crystal clear that Mitt Romney is completely out of touch with not just the 99%, but the 99.9%. Mitt Romney exists on a level where he really believes that he earned his fortunes the old fashioned way, through hard work, and damned if he’ll be criticized for that. Romney certainly did earn his money the old fashioned way—by being born into a rich, powerful, and white family. Who are we kidding, Romney’s father was governor of Michigan and ran for president, for Pete’s sake.

However, sometimes I do think about the contrast. While President Obama has not been the ideal liberal, progressive president, his candidacy and presidency have represented something important. He was not born into the ruling class. But, more importantly, his campaign in 2008 represented the idea that people could have a say in how things are run, and that we have a duty and obligation to step up and do the work.

I hear a lot of talk about how the 2012 election will be about choosing what kind of country we want to be. I think that’s dead on. We do need to decide where we want to go.

Mitt Romney and the broken Republican “establishment” (whatever that even means) represent a clear view. They are rich and powerful and they know what’s best for everyone. They talk about how they don’t want the “government” to tell people what’s best, but who they kidding? All they do is talk about how they know what’s best, and last time I checked, President is a government job.

Romney will tell you what’s best, he’s got carnal knowledge of the economy (because he’s been inside it), and just listen to him and everything will be just fine.

The alternative viewpoint is that there’s a whole lot of work to do. There’s a lot of work to do, and it’s hard work. It’s recognizing that there are often no easy answers, and that most of the work is grueling and thankless. But, it’s urgent work.

So I can see how a lot of people who have been beaten down and had their livelihoods destroyed might lean towards the first choice. They are sick and tired and upset and don’t want to think about it and just want all of this to go away. 

But I believe that something is happening. People are sick and tired and upset, but are beginning to realize that we, the people, are the only ones who can do anything about it. Voting for Mitt Romney isn’t going to make any of these problems go away. That’s what Romney would like us all to think, but to borrow a Gingrich attack, we aren’t that stupid and he isn’t that clever.

Voting for Barack Obama in November won’t make the problems go away, either. But voting for Barack Obama is a rejection of the notion that we should return to the idea that rich, white, usually old men know best and will take care of it for us.

The president isn’t perfect, and I don’t always agree with him and all of those other standard disclaimers. But I know this—we have had tangible victories that would not have been possible under a Republican president. I wish that some change would come faster. I wish sometimes we’d see more bold action from the president. But I also know that change comes slowly. And I also know that real change doesn’t come from the top down.

Mitt Romney is the perfect candidate to represent the Republican Party. He’s everything they have become. He’s everything politics in America has become. He’s condescending, patronizing, and hypocritical. He doesn’t believe in anything other than that he’d like to be president. As such, I’d be happy with him as his party’s nominee.

Romney represents the worst of American politics.

Meanwhile, more and more of us are stepping up to represent the best. I don’t believe that President Obama will solve all of our problems. But I’d much rather be fighting for change against an Obama administration than any other possibility.