Okay, we all know that this election has been and will continue to be of major importance. I've also been meaning to write this blog for a long time.
Before I delve into recent thoughts, I have to include a disclaimer:
I am a republican at heart. I believe in small government and my moral view of the world has a huge impact on how I vote. If you choose to be offended at the things I say after this disclaimer, it is exactly that- a choice. This blog has not been composed with the idea to offend but to merely offer my opinion. Thank you.
One of my English classes this semester is based on the premise of doubt. As a class, it was defined as "Landlessness". Working through doubt is like treading water and trying to find land. To go along with that theme our teacher asked us to keep a "doubt journal"; a compilation of our thoughts and reflections on a topic that we felt doubtful about. Now, we don't have to turn in the actual journal but simply report that we worked on it for 20 minutes.
I decided to research the presidential campaign and figure out who I would vote for this November. I knew, from the gate, that I would most likely vote for Mitt Romney. It started as an assumption. And the last thing I wanted to do was vote for someone because everyone around me was voting for them. For me, I need to know why I am voting for them according to the policies that I have researched. Researching both sides was particularly interesting because I had a more liberal backboard to bounce off of, thank you Jessica. My roommate is an Obama supporter and we had several late night/early morning conversations regarding our political views and different things that we had researched.
Here is what I learned from our discussions:
I believe in small government. Before I probably assumed that most people believed that less government we had, the better. That is not true. I'm not saying that it is a bad thing, but there are differing foundation beliefs that often get overlooked in the war of words.
I think, in regards to Political campaigns, there is no way I can know everything let alone have an opinion on everything. This is more of a personal revelation. But if you visit either website, you'll see how many issues there are. There is no way I can research all of those issues and decided which one adds up to the best candidate. Which leads me to my next point....
The issues I have an opinion on, I will research, those I don't, simply get less attention. I primarily researched: education, economic recovery plans, taxes, and Russian foreign policy. The last one seems random I know.
Both candidates do things that make me uncomfortable. We're talking primarily about the debates here. Not really a topic I feel I need to expound on.
So here is goes, my opinion on each candidate.
Obama-
I'm just going to say it, I'm not a huge fan of this one. A lot of those differences come in from the fundamental differences about how government should work. I do feel like we should help people, but I don't want more government programs and I don't want to encourage people to try to live off of what we can give them. I feel that welfare has its place, I'm a huge fan of welfare that attempts to help people be self-reliant. It's a delicate topic and I understand that. But I feel like Obama is feeding the nation with his words and promises, but I'm not sure how much he has actually helped. The more I've listened to the debates and read his platform and policies, I just trust him less. I feel like he is using key words like, "middle class" and "folks". These words don't really reflect his policies but rather his desire to connect with the people and make them feel like he will take care of them.
http://www.barackobama.com
Mitt Romney-
Here are a few reasons that I like Mitt. I like that he favors small government. I like that he wants to give power back to the states. At first, thinking about that policy made me nervous (California can handle their funds really well), but now that I've spent some time thinking about it I like the idea. I like the morals that he brings to his office. I appreciate having someone in politics who has a moral foundation that I understand from my perspective. His tax plans make sense to me. I realize that his plan for economic recovery will take a long time. Much longer than the american people are willing to give one person. But I think, if employed that his policies would in fact improve the economy, and that is something that is important to me. I feel like I can trust him, at least as much as I can trust a politician. I don't like his idea for portable title one funds... but you can't have everything.
www.mittromney.com/
Other sites I referenced for my information:
http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php
Before I delve into recent thoughts, I have to include a disclaimer:
I am a republican at heart. I believe in small government and my moral view of the world has a huge impact on how I vote. If you choose to be offended at the things I say after this disclaimer, it is exactly that- a choice. This blog has not been composed with the idea to offend but to merely offer my opinion. Thank you.
One of my English classes this semester is based on the premise of doubt. As a class, it was defined as "Landlessness". Working through doubt is like treading water and trying to find land. To go along with that theme our teacher asked us to keep a "doubt journal"; a compilation of our thoughts and reflections on a topic that we felt doubtful about. Now, we don't have to turn in the actual journal but simply report that we worked on it for 20 minutes.
I decided to research the presidential campaign and figure out who I would vote for this November. I knew, from the gate, that I would most likely vote for Mitt Romney. It started as an assumption. And the last thing I wanted to do was vote for someone because everyone around me was voting for them. For me, I need to know why I am voting for them according to the policies that I have researched. Researching both sides was particularly interesting because I had a more liberal backboard to bounce off of, thank you Jessica. My roommate is an Obama supporter and we had several late night/early morning conversations regarding our political views and different things that we had researched.
Here is what I learned from our discussions:
I believe in small government. Before I probably assumed that most people believed that less government we had, the better. That is not true. I'm not saying that it is a bad thing, but there are differing foundation beliefs that often get overlooked in the war of words.
I think, in regards to Political campaigns, there is no way I can know everything let alone have an opinion on everything. This is more of a personal revelation. But if you visit either website, you'll see how many issues there are. There is no way I can research all of those issues and decided which one adds up to the best candidate. Which leads me to my next point....
The issues I have an opinion on, I will research, those I don't, simply get less attention. I primarily researched: education, economic recovery plans, taxes, and Russian foreign policy. The last one seems random I know.
Both candidates do things that make me uncomfortable. We're talking primarily about the debates here. Not really a topic I feel I need to expound on.
So here is goes, my opinion on each candidate.
Obama-
I'm just going to say it, I'm not a huge fan of this one. A lot of those differences come in from the fundamental differences about how government should work. I do feel like we should help people, but I don't want more government programs and I don't want to encourage people to try to live off of what we can give them. I feel that welfare has its place, I'm a huge fan of welfare that attempts to help people be self-reliant. It's a delicate topic and I understand that. But I feel like Obama is feeding the nation with his words and promises, but I'm not sure how much he has actually helped. The more I've listened to the debates and read his platform and policies, I just trust him less. I feel like he is using key words like, "middle class" and "folks". These words don't really reflect his policies but rather his desire to connect with the people and make them feel like he will take care of them.http://www.barackobama.com
Mitt Romney-
Here are a few reasons that I like Mitt. I like that he favors small government. I like that he wants to give power back to the states. At first, thinking about that policy made me nervous (California can handle their funds really well), but now that I've spent some time thinking about it I like the idea. I like the morals that he brings to his office. I appreciate having someone in politics who has a moral foundation that I understand from my perspective. His tax plans make sense to me. I realize that his plan for economic recovery will take a long time. Much longer than the american people are willing to give one person. But I think, if employed that his policies would in fact improve the economy, and that is something that is important to me. I feel like I can trust him, at least as much as I can trust a politician. I don't like his idea for portable title one funds... but you can't have everything.www.mittromney.com/
Other sites I referenced for my information:
http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php
