Day604 Tuesday 04/24/12

ran 3.1 miles

"It’s still about the economy…and we’re not stupid."

Here are some excerpts from the AntiObama after 43 primaries and caucuses, which have led him through a rather straight path to the official Republican nomination.  The one main question Romney wants voters to ask themselves is, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

"Americans have always been eternal optimists. But over the last three and a half years, we have seen hopes and dreams diminished by false promises and weak leadership. Everywhere I go, Americans are tired of being tired, and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less."

"Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?

Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?

If the answer were “yes” to those questions, then President Obama would be running for re-election based on his achievements…and rightly so. But because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions. That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time. But not here and not now. It’s still about the economy …and we’re not stupid."

"I see an America with a growing middle class, with rising standards of living. I see children even more successful than their parents - some successful even beyond their wildest dreams – and others congratulating them for their achievement, not attacking them for it.

This America is fundamentally fair. We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends’ businesses; the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next.

In the America I see, character and choices matter. And education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded. And poverty will be defeated, not with a government check, but with respect and achievement that is taught by parents, learned in school, and practiced in the workplace.

This is the America that was won for us by the nation’s Founders, and earned for us by the Greatest Generation. It is the America that has produced the most innovative, most productive, and most powerful economy in the world, with one of the highest standards of living of any major nation. …"

I'm not entirely thrilled by Romney but I am absolutely devastated by Obama. And if it is Mitt Romney's intention to undo the damage done by Barack Obama then that is enough for me. Whether those intentions and talking points will actually bear action in the future remains to be seen, but they are a far less dangerous gamble than handing Barack Obama four more years with no electorate to answer to.

(Source)

215.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day239.