On Oct. 3 the presidential race as Americans knew it evolved in an apocalyptic fashion.
The earth spun out of orbit and crashed into the sun, politicians became possessed by lying Big Bird haters and in turn, Big Bird became a politician.
While the earth did not crash into the sun, obviously, the other statements are not that far from the truth, (as we are led to believe).
The first presidential debate was surprising, to mostly everyone who tuned in, as an almost unanimous decision deemed Governor Romney the winner, or rather, that President Obama lost. The historical evidence of both candidates’ public speaking skills would suggest a much different result.
Commonly understood to be a boring, disconnected politician, Romney took the stage with an enthused charisma that, for the first time in the 2012 Presidential Election, outshone a confused and irritable Obama.
The expectations for both candidates were the complete opposite of the final result. However, Al Gore gave American’s the reasoning they longed for in regards to this upset: Denver’s altitude.
But never mind the debate, I mean what’s the point if the media claims that Romney won, but both sides lied. It’s a matter of deciding whether or not they aimed to mislead, or were misled themselves.
No, what is much more interesting is the good ole fashioned ‘mudslinging’ that has become disappointingly inevitable.
Days after the debate, the Obama campaign released a campaign ad highlighting the concept of Romney’s “dishonesty.” In fact, the only form of recoil the Obama camp has been able to scrounge up since the debate has been nothing more than character attacks on Romney.
However, we ought to be clear about what they are arguing.
Referring to a $5 trillion tax cut that Romney claims is avoidable without hiking up taxes on the middle class, Obama strategists have labeled his claim a blatant lie. But the fact of the matter is that this idea, in and of itself, is a widely debated topic amongst economists and think tanks throughout America.
A Princeton economist, performed the research the Obama campaign is using to base their claims.
However, this economist has also said that he doesn’t know exactly how the Obama Campaign reached that conclusion from his work.
I do not know what is more insulting as a political constituent, calling someone out on a “lie” on the premise of another lie or turning Big Bird into the center of political campaign strategies.
Yeah, Big Bird has, in fact, made appearances at recent Obama campaigning events.
Imagine, President Obama, Commander in Chief, the man we entrusted to lead the country out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, America in its foreign policy, manage our military, federal spending, job creation and literally hundreds of other presidential responsibilities, is physically standing next to Big Bird, calling someone a liar.
Obama is living the American Dream — of a four-year-old. Are you kidding me?
I went home this past weekend for fall break to visit my family and while I was home, I broke up the same fight between my little sisters.
It is truly insulting and let me tell you why. This is our political race, led by the president of the United States of America.
Romney made a stand and Obama fell down. The legitimacy of both candidates’ facts can be debated until kingdom come, but so can religion or the Pepsi-Coke polling.
But people kill for religion and Coke just outsells Pepsi. There is supposed to be a discrepancy in political discourse. A standard set by politicians promoting civil discourse and actions.
A light shined through maturity, civility and respect. So, as a result, I will tell you what I told my baby sisters, what my mom told me as a child, along with millions of other parents: “Put away your toy birds and stop calling people names. If you have an issue with someone, talk to them about it, not about them because of it and if you do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all because, ultimately, you just soil your own name.”
American constituents deserve better leadership than Big Bird and name calling.
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