This last Monday, Oct. 22, I sat down and watched the third and last presidential debate, which addressed the topic of foreign policy, on the C-SPAN network.
Prior to that night I had kept up with various news sources and was pretty much able to predict that the two candidates, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, would still be neck-and-neck by the end of the debate.
That prediction, in my own opinion, was not terribly disappointed by the end of the debate.
Take for example moderator Bob Schieffer’s question of whether an attack on Israel would be considered an attack on the United States; neither candidate gave a direct answer. Obama tangoed beautifully around the question, as I had come to expect from his responses in the previous two debates. He opted to specify that we would stand behind Israel if they were attacked but did not give a definitive “yes.” Romney surprisingly danced a little also; his answer suggests that he would have liked to be definitive but that he phrased the answer in such a way that would not dissuade moderate voters.
So the 90 minutes ended, and both candidates had strong arguments, whether they were off-topic or not.
And then C-SPAN took comments from the viewers.
These were relayed live on television by Facebook comments, tweets and the ancient device also known as the telephone.
And one repeated comment that nearly had me throwing my ’70s-era, 13-inch tube out the window was the cry, “Obama needs another four years.”
Any person elected to the prestigious position of president of the United States has some big boots to fill. One must “solemnly swear (or affirm) that (one) will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of (one’s) Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” We assume the elected candidate’s promises and policies meet these criteria. The real challenge lies in that the elected is only guaranteed one term to carry out his or her agenda. As far as that goes, Obama hasn’t even bothered to layer his socks so the presidential boots won’t slip off as he runs around the country campaigning.
I’ve heard comments supporting Obama from some other women on this campus. One person I spoke with was completely shocked when I said that I supported Romney. The fact of the matter is that I’ve been keeping up with Mr. President’s track record. I suspect that she hasn’t much bothered with politics since the 2008 elections, else her response might have been a little less taken aback.
In the course of politics I’ve always been biased toward the Republican side, but I always choose to put the facts before feelings and act on that conclusion. In the face of these past and ridiculously stagnant four years, I’m choosing to elect a different president.
“Go vote,” Mr. Schieffer quipped of his mother at the end of the debate. “It makes you feel big and strong.”
But I expect you all to do your homework first.
