Romney's Keys to Winning the Debates

Things I think Romney needs to do in the upcoming Presidential debates:

1. Keep it focused on the economy
• Romney needs to prove to the American people that he has a plan on how to rescue the economy from disaster.  Also, he needs to bring out how bad Obama has been for the economy, and how and why he will be different.
2. Stay mistake free
• Romney can't afford another big gaffe.  Obama is a great rhetorician and debater, and he will know how to pounce on the slightest misspoken thing Romney says, and twist it out of context. Romney cannot afford to alienate any more voters.
3. Keep Obama on the defensive
• Romney can't afford to be on the defense during the debates.  This is Obama's election to lose, so Romney needs to be in full attack mode.  If Obama can start shifting the focus over to Romney's shortcomings, Romney won't stand a chance.  Instead, Romney needs to call Obama to count for his failures as President.  Where are the 5 million jobs he promised to create?  Why do we still have troops in the Middle East?  Why are the gas prices so high?  And the list goes on and on.  Romney has plenty of ammunition, he just needs to use it.
4. Act presidential
• Romney needs to show America that he will make a good president.  This means acting like a president.  He can't let Obama fluster him.  He may not be able to out talk the President, but he cannot let Obama make him look foolish.
5. Show his personal side
• The big advantage Obama has over Romney right now is likability.  Obama is a pretty likable guy...he's always smiling, and people seem to think that he knows and cares about their problems (even if he doesn't really)  Romney seems stiff, uncaring, and hard to relate to, to many voters.  He needs to rectify this image.  These debates are his last chance to do so.  In his acceptance speech at the RNC, Romney did a better job of letting people see a different side of him other than his stiff, business-like side.  He needs to take this even farther during the debates.

If Romney can do these things, I think he stands a good chance of swinging the opinions of many voters away from Obama and over to him.  He needs to convince the remaining un-decided voters that he is a far better option than Obama.

Thoughts on the Upcoming Election

     On Tuesday, November 6th, America will make a decision.  This decision will determine the path our country will follow, not only for the next four years, but also for years to come.  These two paths could not be more dissimilar.  One of these paths will take us on the slow road to restoring America's greatness.  The other will keep America in the tailspin that it is in right now.   We are standing on the threshold of what will be, in my opinion, one of the most crucial elections in the history of the United States of America.  Will America ignore all the signs of her impending doom?  Or will America say "no more" to those who want to bring about her downfall?

     At this moment the United States is on the fast track to disaster, both economically and morally.  Many of our citizens have become totally and entirely debased and immoral.  Abortion is legal all nine months in all 50 states, same-sex marriage is legal in six states (this could increase to nine this November, depending on how the citizens of Washington, Maine, and Maryland vote), the divorce rate is frighteningly high, as is teenage pregnancy, and freedom of religion is under attack.  Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves.  Everything that they worked so hard to preserve in our country is being slowly but surely broken down.  Even the most basic principles of the Constitution are under attack.  Freedom of religion, one of the main reasons the first settlers came to America, and the foremost of the protected freedoms in the constitution, is being compromised.  Our president is sending out feelers to see just how much he can infringe on the Church and its constitutional rights.
     Meanwhile, our economy is going down the drain due to the utter stupidity of our current leadership... both in congress and the White House.  They seem to believe that they can solve our money shortages by spending more money.  And they somehow don't see a problem in increasing our already colossal national debt.  16 trillion dollars.  That is $51,000 per American citizen.  Our country is moving more and more towards socialism, and look where that got Europe.  Socialism has never worked and never will work.  And since when does the government have the right or the power to force us to buy something we don't want?  The new Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) with its individual mandate is perhaps the most unconstitutional law ever passed in this country.  Liberals are supposed to be all about "freedom of choice." Where is the freedom in being forced to buy healthcare?  This is a clear violation of our constitutional rights.  On top of this, it is going to add billions on to our national debt.
     If President Obama is reelected many irreversible and disastrous things will happen.  First of all, the Affordable Care Act will take effect and America will be saddled with socialized healthcare for years to come.  Obama will have the opportunity of appointing three, possibly four, new Supreme Court Justices.  This would give the liberals a 7-3 majority in the highest court of the land for the next generation, which would have consequences so far reaching that it is painful to think about. Obama will continue his policy of ignoring the threat of hostile nations, such as Iran, obtaining nuclear weapons.  Israel, one of our only allies in the Middle East, and one of our closest allies in the world, will be abandoned to the wrath of Muslim extremist countries who want nothing more than to wipe it off the map.  If given four more years, President Obama will continue to wage his war on morals.   He will continue to support abortion on demand, embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex marriage, and more.  Freedom of religion will come more and more under attack.  He will also fail to secure our border with Mexico, and perhaps even give millions of illegal aliens a free pass and possibly even citizenship.  All of these will have disastrous effects on our country.
     On the other hand, we could elect Mitt Romney and get our country back on track.  Now, before you start pointing an accusing finger, let me clarify.  I was never a Romney supporter.  He was far too moderate for my tastes.  No, perhaps he is not the most conservative candidate we could have chosen, but he is sure a lot better than what we have right now.  Romney, at least, cares about the success and prosperity of America, and he has a definite plan on how to make it happen.  Obama, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have any idea on how to improve the economy.  He just keeps saying that four years wasn't enough time for him to fix anything.  Hmm, that's funny....I thought he said he could fix it in three years.  Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan (who, by the way, was an excellent choice), have a plan.  A plan to end the liberal stupidity that has a hold of our nation.  A plan to return America to her former greatness.  A plan that our nation desperately needs.
     So what will you vote for?  Will you choose a president who will bring us nothing but four more years of failure?  Or will you choose a president who promises prosperity and freedom?  The choice is yours.  Choose wisely.

She's a Child, Not a Choice

This is a speech I wrote for a pro-life speech contest several years ago:

            Throughout the history of America the murder of unborn children was a crime. Doctors who performed abortions could be legally tried for murder.  All this changed in 1973 with the legalization of abortion.  The unborn went from being some of our most protected citizens to our most threatened.  Because of groups like Planned Parenthood, with their slogan, “Every Child a Wanted Child,” human life has become a choice, something that can be disposed of if it isn’t wanted.  Unborn babies are no longer considered persons and are not considered worth protecting.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, abortion is now one of the most common medical procedures in America.  Every year about 1.3 million lives are abruptly and brutally ended by abortion, and over 52 million since 1973.  The Guttmacher Institute, a research branch of PP, also admits that 22% of all pregnancies end in abortion.  That is nearly one in every four babies!  Thanks to abortion we will never know how these people could have benefited society. 

Planned Parenthood, according to their annual report, in addition to charging between $400 and $1500 per abortion, receives $363 million dollars of our tax money every year and has a yearly income of over 1.1 billion dollars.  Americans are being forced to pay for the destruction of innocent human beings!  PP claims to care about women but in reality abortion is just a multi-million dollar industry.  Abby Johnson, a former PP clinic director in Texas, said, “I was directed to double the number of abortions our clinic performed in order to drive up revenue.”  There have been many cases that prove this point.  For example, Carol Everett, a former clinic owner, said that they didn’t even have enough sets of surgical instruments so they just reused them without being sterilized.  Live Action, an organization that goes undercover into abortion clinics, has exposed PP covering up child abuse by giving twelve and thirteen year-olds abortions and then just sending them back to their 31 year old abusers.  Planned Parenthood’s goal is to do as many abortions as possible, no matter the consequences.

Margaret Sanger, the founder of PP and a well known eugenicist, had many of the same ideas and goals as Adolf Hitler.  She believed that certain kinds of people, such as the mentally retarded, shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce.  She said, “The undeniably feebleminded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind.”  Sanger also said in her book The Pivot of Civilization, “Our failure to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying … demonstrates our foolhardy and extravagant sentimentalism…”  These are some of the very same ideas believed and carried out by Hitler and his henchmen.  Planned Parenthood also targets teenagers, people below the poverty line, and African Americans.  By placing many of their clinics in minority neighborhoods they are carrying out the mission of their founder to, in Margaret Sanger’s own words, “…exterminate the black population.”  This is confirmed by the fact that while African Americans make up only 12% of our total population, 30% of abortions are done on black children. 

Despite all these appalling facts there is hope for the future.  Here are some encouraging examples: the Guttmacher Institute says that since 1981 abortions have dropped from 29 abortions for every 1,000 women, to less than twenty.  Planned Parenthood’s illegal activities are being exposed by undercover organizations like Live Action.  Many states, such as Nebraska and South Dakota, are passing laws to limit the number of abortions.  Also, for the first time a Gallup poll has shown that a majority of Americans oppose abortion.  Due to the unceasing efforts of the Pro-life movement, Americans are beginning to realize the awful reality of abortion and the truth about Planned Parenthood, but there is still a long way to go.  We need to do all we can to help end this tragedy especially by: protesting outside of clinics, supporting women facing crisis pregnancies, electing pro-life congressmen, and most importantly by prayer.  Prayer is by far the most powerful tool we have.

No matter what Planned Parenthood says, unborn babies are valuable human beings, not “choices.”  A human life isn’t something to take lightly; life must be protected and loved at every stage.  Americans need to recognize that life has been given to us by God and that we are obligated to respect and care for it.  The American Constitution gives all human beings the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  There is no exception for the unborn. We must stop condoning the extermination of our youngest citizens and end Planned Parenthood’s blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life!

Presidential Rankings

Several months ago I did a ranking of the Presidents of the United States and put it on Facebook.  Thought I would share it on here as well.  This is the updated edition.

1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Ronald Reagan
5. Jame Monroe
6. Andrew Jackson
7. John Adams
8. James Madison
9. Calvin Coolidge 
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower
11. James Polk
12. George H.W. Bush
13. Theodore Roosevelt
14. Harry Truman
15. George W. Bush
16. John Quincy Adams
17. Grover Cleveland
18. John F. Kennedy
19. William McKinley
20. Lyndon B. Johnson
21. William Howard Taft
22. Herbert Hoover
23. Richard Nixon
24. Chester A. Arthur
25. Franklin Pierce
26. Zachary Taylor
27. Benjamin Harrison
28. Rutherford B. Hayes
29. Warren Harding
30. Martin van Buren
31. Millard Fillmore
32. John Tyler
33. Gerald Ford
34. James Buchanan
35. Bill Clinton
36. Franklin D. Roosevelt 
37. Woodrow Wilson
38. Jimmy Carter
39. Andrew Johnson
40. Ulysses S. Grant
41. Barack Obama


*William Henry Harrison and James Garfield are not ranked due to the brevity of their terms

Leave your comments/opinions below

A Tribute to "W"

   George W. Bush is perhaps one of the most maligned presidents in American history.  He is blamed for essentially every problem the liberal media can possibly link him to.  Why are the gas prices so high?  It's Bush's fault.  Why is the economy in the tank?  Bush's fault.  Why are we fighting in the middle east?  Once again, Bush's fault.  By the way the media and the democrats speak of him, one would think that Bush gave an order to raise gas prices, single-handedly brought Wall Street to its knees, and personally invited Al-Qaeda to ram the Trade Towers so that he had an excuse to start a war.  He is portrayed as war-mongering, racist, egotistical, and most of the time just plain stupid.

   What did "W" ever do to deserve this image?  Admittedly, I didn't agree with all his decisions (i.e.  No Child Left Behind, TARP, GM bailout).  He definitely wasn't completely conservative in his ideas about government and the economy.  But George Bush genuinely cared about our nation.  He was obviously extremely patriotic and proud of his country, which is more than I can say about many politicians today.  He did his best to make sure that America remained the greatest country in the world.   After that fateful day when America was attacked by terrorists, Bush did his best to make sure that it would never happen again.

    I honestly have no problem when people say they disagree with Bush's political, economic, or national defense ideas, but one of my pet peeves (as many of my friends have discovered) is when people attack his personal character, accuse him of being a racist, call him an idiot, and the like.  In my opinion this is quite uncalled for.  Last year I read Bush's memoirs, Decision Points, cover to cover.  He struck me as down-to-earth, genuine, sincere, honest, and as a loving husband and father.  Oh, and he's a big fan of baseball :)  His struggle with, and ultimately triumph over, alcoholism is truly inspiring.  Many of the liberal Bush-bashers would do well to read his book. Maybe they would understand more about the man that they so love to disparage.  

    George W. Bush is one of my heroes.  As I  aspiring politician, I look up to him as an example and role model.  I admire him greatly and am grateful for everything he did for our country.  I only wish I could tell meet him in person and tell him myself.  Well, maybe one day...

September

Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska

    What an exciting time of year!!!  College football is underway (yes, my beloved Huskers won 49-20.  The BC Ravens are off to another great start, winning 59-6 on Saturday).  The NFL season is just around the corner...six days to be exact.  There is nothing more anticipated than the start of football season.  These past six months without football have been just plain too long....as always.  And now baseball season is beginning its march toward the playoffs.  My intramural flag football team plays our first game tomorrow.  And to top it all off, the presidential election is looming in the not-so-far future.  Very few things excite me as much as sports and politics.  I enjoy the suspense of election years immensely.  Yes, I love September.  It is quite possibly my favorite month of the year.  The combination of awesome weather (usually) and the coinciding football and baseball seasons is hard to beat.  Admittedly, it is quite uncomfortably hot right now.  But hopefully in a few weeks we will start experiencing some splendid fall weather.
    The only not-so-great part of September is the start of classes.  It does help, however, that all of my classes (except for Macroeconomics) are really interesting. For the record, the new history professor is an incredible teacher.  And it has been so good to reacquaint myself with all my friends after three months of not seeing them.
    Yes indeed....September is great.

Hello blogging

   Well, here goes nothing.  I'm new to this whole blogging thing...but what's life for if not for trying new things?  I've been thinking that there are times when I have something that I really want to say or share with people, but it's just plain too long for a Facebook status.  I mean, no one wants these huge long, several paragraph long statuses clogging up their news feed (I know I don't).  Plus, I know that most people aren't interested in hearing long political rants and such.  I thought that starting a blog would be the best way to solve all of these issues.  This way, if people want to read what I have to say, they can read it on here, and I won't have to bore everyone else who could care less.  Well, that's about all I have to say right now, so I guess I will just stop.