The Presidential Sweepstakes – History In The Making

I have to admit that I love this time on the calendar.  Every four years we get together at the polls and choose who our leader is going to be.  Sometimes we go with the person I voted for and sometimes not, but there are always different points of rhetoric that drive the election.

2000 was all about what we put up with during the Clinton years.  While many think that this was a time of prosperity, we had a recession at the end of it and Al Gore never had the polish that Bill Clinton did.  He lost because of that, though fairly narrowly because many people still believed that Bill Clinton was a pretty good President.  I personally never believed that, but that seems to be the public perception.

2004 was more about the George W. Bush years as President.  I heard it put that it was about a candidate that was not nearly as strong as he ought to have been and a President that didn’t lay down the hammer punch that would have put away his opponent.  I couldn’t agree more.  While it was not as close as the media would lead you to believe, it was more about going with what you knew versus changing horses and going with someone you didn’t.

2008 was a flat out rejection of George W. Bush combined with embracing history.  The idea of electing the first African American President intrigued a lot of people and then there was the whole embrace of “change.”  We really didn’t know what that change meant, but it was something that people said they were ready for.  I will admit that, while I didn’t vote for Obama, I did see the historical nature of the election.

2012 is obvious.  It’s about the record of Barack Obama.  You have a President running from his record and pulling the bait and switch, hoping that people will take their attention off of him.  For Mr. Romney, it is far easier.  Just simply look like you can do the job and continue to point out that the other guy can’t.  Eventually, people will get the idea.

While you hear a lot from different polls, I wonder if they are real.  While one says a 7 point lead, another says neck and neck.  Truthfully, many people aren’t paying much attention to the election right now with Team USA doing so well in London.  Give it another week or two and let Mitt Romney pick his running mate and you will see attention on the election and a tight race, which we have seen from the beginning in this race for the White House.