Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tom Friedman Nails It On Presidential Debate

Romney and Obama went into the ring and attacked each other.  Romney blamed Obama for the poor economy that was caused by the financial collapse that Obama had nothing to do with. He also argued that he had a plan for fixing the economy.  It turns out that he does not have a plan.  We have to trust him because he made a lot of money running a private equity firm.  The president pointed at the flaws in Romney's non-plan, and he raised questions about his leadership credentials as a corporate raider, and about his concern for ordinary Americans.  The bottom line is that neither of them has told Americans what our real problems are, and neither of them has outlined a plan for the future.  Obama seems to understand what we need to do better than Romney, who would make things worse, but he has not been vigorous enough in taking his plan to the public so that we can end the gridlock in Congress that is primarily a result of Republican obstructionism.  It is a party that depends upon appealing to the worse instincts of a misinformed public.  It is no longer a party that puts the interests of the public ahead of party interests and its financial supporters who represent the worst elements of corporate America.

Most of the pundits, following the debate, declared that the president performed better than he did in the Denver debate.  This is not a prize fight, however, our future depends upon selecting a president that can be transformational.  We need the president to provide the transformational leadership that he has demonstrated in the past, and sell the public on his plan. 

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