I have been tasked with detailing to you why I will vote for Presidential candidate Mitt Romney in November’s fast-approaching election. Though he is not the Republican I would have liked to have emerged from the primary, he will get my vote. And I think he should get yours.
One of the chief reasons I am voting for Romney is because of the current state of our country. Since President Obama took the office four years ago, household medium income has decreased by $4,000. Our unemployment rate has increased, guaranteeing us a tougher challenge in finding a job when we graduate. Our national debt has moved in the wrong direction by $4 trillion. Simply put, the economy stinks.
As odd as this may sound, I’m going to switch gears now. I could list more numbers or flesh out what I only outlined in the previous paragraph, but since I don’t have much room here, I’m going to focus in on ideas. Because, as I’ve written before, it’s the ideas that matter the most. They have consequences. They shape us. That isn’t to say we shouldn’t study the details or that they don’t matter. Of course it is important for us to watch the numbers, the stats and all of the other particulars that accompany the big decisions of government. But ideas carry the day, so that is where I want to focus.
Call me old school, but I believe small government is good government. The less it interferes with the peoples’ affairs, the better. What would I like in a government? I would like a government in which there is provided an even playing surface for everybody to be able to advance themselves without government interference – not a government who tries to make everyone the same. Some call this principle, equality of purpose. It’s what the colonials had in mind when they told King George to get lost during the American Revolution. It’s why they put the word “pursuit” in the Declaration. They wanted to be free to make their own way, not have elected officials do it for them.
The French tried it another way during their own revolution. They fought the royals and nobility to establish a place where everyone would be the same. What happened? The Reign of Terror and years of Napoleonic wars ensued, unleashing years of relentless bloodshed. They had in mind what we might call, equality of outcome, a state in which everyone is the same. All the while, America was prospering, creating things like the Constitution and the Supreme Court.
This puts Romney in a favorable light, in my opinion. He stands for small government. He wants to empower us to help ourselves, not give us handouts. Obama’s administration feels otherwise. The president wants to continue to increase government involvement in our lives, as evidenced by his massive health care reform act and other initiatives.
Now hear me out: I’m not a crazy conservative who thinks Obama is out to kill America. That’s not what I’ve been trying to say. I just think the principles and ideas here are important enough to really think about.
Maybe you think I should have written it differently. A fair question. My answer? Your mind has already been made up as for who you are voting. I just wanted to do my best to get to the heart of what I think makes America so great, and try challenge you to think about your presidential pick a little deeper. That’s how good citizenship works.