President Obama walks away from Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney after the presidential debate at the University of Denver on Oct. 3, 2012 in Denver.
(GETTY IMAGES)
Governor Mitt Romney made the case for how he will get America back on track – a conservative vision for America – in a way that far surpasses previous speeches, ads, and interviews. Romney, and his debate prep team, deserves bonus points for delivering his best campaign performance on what also happened to be the biggest stage of the campaign. Something changed last night, the 2012 election shifted into a new paradigm.
In contrast, President Obama reiterated more of the same ideology and policies that have “buried” the middle class over the last four years and led to ever-increasing national debt. Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan calls it a campaign of “debt, doubt, and despair.” That sums up President Obama’s debate performance last night.
You know when far left liberals like Bill Maher are tweeting things like, “Obama made a lot of great points tonight. Unfortunately, most of them were for Romney,” the president’s campaign was having a bad night bordering on disaster.
While most pundits remarked at how Obama’s style and performance were clearly lacking last night, it was the content buried in his rhetoric that may be most damaging.
Obama’s answer to every question last night was simple: more, bigger government at the expense of taxpayers and future generation’s debt is the answer to every major issues facing America today.
Romney, on the other hand, was direct, concise, and clear, establishing a contrast with the president while making the case for why he is better equipped to lead America out of the largest recession since the Great Depression.
Romney’s style may have grabbed the attention of those watching the debate, but what he said could change the direction of this race.
Romney also described the debt and deficits facing the nation as bigger than mere dollars and cents. Reinvigorating our economy while stopping our ever-increasing debt is no only the best approach to tackling our nation’s woes, it is the morally right thing to do.
I think it’s not just an economic issue. I think it’s a moral issue. I think it’s, frankly, not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we take in, knowing those burdens are going to be passed on to the next generation. And they’re going to be paying the interest and the principle all their lives. And the amount of debt we’re adding, at a trillion a year, is simply not moral.
As we, and many Americans, have repeatedly said, saddling future generations with trillions of dollars of debt is immoral.
Romney summed up this major policy difference with Obama this way:
Now, I’m concerned that the path that we’re on has just been unsuccessful. The President has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years ago, that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more -- if you will, trickle-down government would work. That’s not the right answer for America. I’ll restore the vitality that gets America working again.
Romney also touched on several other key issues that have marked Obama’s presidency over the past four years. He explained how we must return to our founding principles:
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the first presidential debate with President Obama at the University.
(AP)
The role of government -- look behind us: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The role of government is to promote and protect the principles of those documents. First, life and liberty . . .
Second, in that line that says, we are endowed by our Creator with our rights -- I believe we must maintain our commitment to religious tolerance and freedom in this country . . . We’re a nation that believes we’re all children of the same God
This paints a clear contrast to Obama’s HHS mandate that violates the religious liberty of millions of Americans. And if that’s not clear enough, he expressly said that Obamacare will be one of the first things to go when he is elected president.
Yet, nothing painted a clearer contrast to Obama’s “trickle-down government” than this, “But we also believe in maintaining for individuals the right to pursue their dreams, and not to have the government substitute itself for the rights of free individuals.”
President Obama has instituted top down government-run healthcare, forced abortion-pill coverage, increased debt, bailouts, and much more that has kept the heel of government on the chest of religious liberty, our economy, and the American dream.
As the saying goes, “it’s the economy stupid.” But, recognizing that the economy is bad is not enough. Sure, President Obama probably knows this, but for all the “I’ve got a plan that will work,” lines he tried to deliver last night, the fact of the matter is simple: President Obama has had 4 years (2 of which he had complete control of Congress) to implement a plan, and it hasn’t worked. He has failed.
It’s not so much that Obama has no answer for his debate performance last night; it’s that Obama has no answer for his performance as the leader of our nation for the past four years.
The choice is clear. With Obama, we will see four more years of debt, economic woes, and trickle-down government. With Romney, “The private market and individual responsibility always work best.”
It is this clear contrast, that Obama had been hoping to avoid, trying to obfuscate and turn the discussion to small, petty squabbles. The American people have now seen who Romney really is – a leader who has turned around businesses, the Olympics, and more, - the one candidate for president who is truly ready to move America forward.
Jordan Sekulow is executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice. and he served as a consultant to Romney for President in 2008. Matthew Clark, an attorney for the ACLJ, contributed to this piece.
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