Two Conventions, two themes, two completely different views of America
Publisher's note: This is a bit of a long read, however we simply feel that it is too well done and too important not to publish in its entirety right now.
The party conventions are over and we now have less than two months until Election Day. Democrats and Republicans are (seemingly) solid in their respective camps, and Independent voters will be the huge focus until November 6th. While I didn't have the pleasure of attending the Democratic National Convention, I did go to the Republican National Convention and was able to experience firsthand the speeches, excitement, and overall energy of the week. Talk has now turned to comparing the two conventions and deciding which was more "beneficial" for its party. After watching both conventions, I noticed that each had its own recurring theme: The Republican convention focused on the failed record of President Obama and how we can do better, while the Democrat convention focused on women's "rights" and how President Obama "killed" Osama bin Laden (with no shortage of attacks on Governor Romney, either).
It's easy to compare some of the "big" speakers at each convention and reveal the underlying theme in each one. The first comparison that comes to mind is Governor Nikki Haley vs. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. Haley is the first Indian-American governor in U.S. history and has a background that includes hard work and achieving her own American Dream. Warren is a Senate candidate in Massachusetts who is 1/32nd Cherokee Indian and has tried to use her "minority" status in the past on job applications to gain an upper hand. Here are some quotes from each woman's speech that clearly show the different themes and goals of their speeches.
Almost forty-five years after my parents first became Americans, I stand before you and them tonight as the proud governor of the state of South Carolina.
As I said, my parents loved that when they came to America, if you worked hard, the only things that could stop you were the limits you placed on yourself. Unfortunately, these past few years, you can work hard, try to be as successful as possible, follow the rules, and President Barack Obama will do everything he can to stand in your way.
South Carolina recently passed one of the most innovative illegal immigration laws in the country. What did this president - who has failed to secure our borders and address this issue in any meaningful way - do? He sued us.
If this President refuses to secure our borders, refuses to protect our citizens from the dangers of illegal immigration, then states have an obligation to take it on ourselves. We said in South Carolina that if you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed and you have to show a picture ID to set foot on an airplane, then you should have to show a picture ID to protect one of the most valuable, most central, most sacred rights we are blessed with in America - the right to vote.
Governor Haley spoke about her parents coming to America and teaching her, her brothers, and sister that the only limits to what you could accomplish in America are the limits you place on yourself. As posted above, she also discussed South Carolina's efforts to implement voter ID laws and (not shown above) President Obama's attempts to shut down a Boeing manufacturing plant in her state. Both are facts and are vital issues in the United States. She went on to talk briefly about Mitt Romney's background and his wife's strength in battling MS and breast cancer while raising five boys.
Elizabeth Warren's speech took on a slightly different tone. While Governor Haley spoke of the success she has had in America, Warren started out speaking about the "victimization" of so many and goes on to discuss how "corporations aren't people."
I'm here tonight to talk about hard-working people: people who get up early, stay up late, cook dinner and help out with homework; people who can be counted on to help their kids, their parents, their neighbors, and the lady down the street whose car broke down; people who work their hearts out but are up against a hard truth—the game is rigged against them.
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The Republican vision is clear: "I've got mine, the rest of you are on your own." Republicans say they don't believe in government. Sure they do. They believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends. After all, Mitt Romney's the guy who said corporations are people.
No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people. And that's why we need Barack Obama.
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President Obama believes in a level playing field. He believes in a country where nobody gets a free ride or a golden parachute. A country where anyone who has a great idea and rolls up their sleeves has a chance to build a business, and anyone who works hard can build some security and raise a family. President Obama believes in a country where billionaires pay their taxes just like their secretaries do, and—I can't believe I have to say this in 2012—a country where women get equal pay for equal work.
In the first two sections here I see one theme: Complaining. Corporations are made by people and include people who run them. I see complaints about success. The last paragraph listed is the opposite of many things President Obama himself has actually said and done-- from "you didn't build that" to the Buffett Rule attempting to punish success to women being paid 18% less than men in the Obama White House, those words barely match up with the President's actions.
The next comparison is current mayor of Saratoga Springs & Congressional candidate Mia Love vs. "women's right activist" Sandra Fluke. This provides the perfect contrast between a woman who is making her voice heard on crucial issues versus a woman who is incapable of discussing issues outside contraception.
President Obama's version of America is a divided one -- pitting us against each other based on our income level, gender, and social status. His policies have failed! We are not better off than we were 4 years ago, and no rhetoric, bumper sticker, or campaign ad can change that.
Mr. President I am here to tell you we are not buying what you are selling in 2012.
The American Dream is our story. It is a story of human struggle, standing up and striving for more. It's been told for over 200 years with small steps and giant leaps; from a woman on a bus to a man with a dream; and the bravery of the greatest generation, to the entrepreneurs of today.
This is our story. This is the America we know because we built it.
Mayor Love began her speech by talking about her parents coming to America with only ten dollars and creating a life for themselves and their children. Her words that I've listed above tell of the American Dream that she has achieved and the policies (and politics) that are threatening to destroy that dream for future generations. There is no complaining in her speech-- only facts and a contagious love for this country.
Sandra Fluke was catapulted to "national" status after being denied a chance to testify before a Congressional committee. To make up for her disappointment, President Obama personally called her to apologize for her troubles and thus gave her a platform from which to shout her demands for freebies.
In that America, your new president could be a man who stands by when a public figure tries to silence a private citizen with hateful slurs; who won’t stand up to the slurs, or to any of the extreme, bigoted voices in his own party. It would be an America in which you have a new vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms. An America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds we don’t want and our doctors say we don’t need. An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it; in which politicians redefine rape so survivors are victimized all over again; in which someone decides which domestic violence victims deserve help, and which don’t. We know what this America would look like. In a few short months, it’s the America we could be. But it’s not the America we should be. It’s not who we are.
We’ve also seen another future we could choose. First of all, we’d have the right to choose. It’s an America in which no one can charge us more than men for the exact same health insurance; in which no one can deny us affordable access to the cancer screenings that could save our lives; in which we decide when to start our families. An America in which our president, when he hears a young woman has been verbally attacked, thinks of his daughters—not his delegates or donors—and stands with all women. And strangers come together, reach out and lift her up. And then, instead of trying to silence her, you invite me here—and give me a microphone—to amplify our voice. That’s the difference.
Like I said before, Fluke is only capable of discussing what she considers "women's issues"; what I've posted here is more than half her entire speech. Her claims of the "offensive, obsolete relic of our past" that we'll return to under a Romney administration are based solely on the fact that Mitt Romney doesn't support the HHS mandate that would require employers (including Catholic employers) to cover contraceptives and would go against their beliefs; he also supports ending public funding of Planned Parenthood, an organization that performs more abortions than any other provider in the United States.
Apparently, it's wrong to defend human life. Sandra Fluke feels that her "rights" as a woman are being threatened if she no longer retains the right to murder her child or get free stuff.
The next comparison I'd like to make is between Ann Romney and Michelle Obama. In this case, I don't think the contrast is effectively shown by posting their words; the real contrast was in their tones and way of speaking. Ann Romney's speech was graceful, genuine, and displayed her husband in a positive light for the American people to ponder. On the other hand, Michelle Obama's speech seemed a trifle forced; she didn't seem genuine while she was speaking. It could be that while the First Lady was speaking, my mind kept going back to 2008 when the now-First Lady said “for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country.” That remark is a direct insult to our military and everything America stands for.
The next comparison is Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. Congressman Ryan presented a clear case for Governor Romney and himself-- a vision of a free America in which Americans are working again, college graduates don't have to "live out their twenties in their childhood bedrooms," and America is once again respected in the world. He also gave a clear picture of the choice the next generation has when casting their vote in November. He even responded to the "victim" cries that would come from the DNC a week later.
Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate.
It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, and define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream. That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.
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It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis. It began with a housing crisis they alone didn’t cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn’t correct.
It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America. It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, and the thrill of something new. Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.
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College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed; your leaders have failed you.
While not denying that President Obama inherited a difficult situation, Congressman Ryan laid out the reasons President Obama has since then failed to lead effectively.
Vice-President Biden's speech was slightly different: Rather than talk about President Obama's plans for a second term, the vice-president discussed perhaps the only major "accomplishment" the President has: Ordering the killing of Osama bin Laden. He also didn't hesitate to attack Governor Romney.
"In 2008, Barack Obama made a promise to the American people. He said, “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights, we will take him out. That has to be our biggest national security priority.” Barack understood that the search for bin Laden was about a lot more than taking a monstrous leader off the battlefield. It was about righting an unspeakable wrong, healing a nearly unbearable wound in America’s heart. He also knew the message we had to send to terrorists around the world—if you attack innocent Americans, we will follow you to the ends of the earth. Most of all, the President had faith in our special forces--the finest warriors the world has ever known.
We sat for days in the Situation Room. He listened to the risks and reservations about the raid. And he asked the tough questions. But when Admiral McRaven looked him in the eye and said-- “Sir, we can get this done,” I knew at that moment Barack had made his decision. His response was decisive. He said do it. And justice was done.
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"I found it fascinating last week--when Governor Romney said, that as President, he’d take a jobs tour. Well with all his support for outsourcing, it’s going to have to be a foreign trip. Look, President Obama knows that creating jobs in America--keeping jobs in America--and bringing jobs back to America--is what being President is all about. That’s the President's job.
"Governor Romney believes that it’s okay to raise taxes on the middle class by $2,000 in order to pay for over a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the very wealthy. President Obama knows that there is nothing decent or fair about asking more of those with less--and less--of those with more.
"Governor Romney believes that kids-the kids we call DREAMers—those immigrant children who were brought to America at a very young age, through no fault of their own—he thinks they’re a drag on America.
Advocating amnesty and the punishment of success is not the path to a successful America, yet that is exactly what the Vice-President is attacking Governor Romney about for opposing both.
The last comparison is between Governor Romney's and President Obama's speeches. While acceptance speeches are going to be somewhat similar, there was a distinct difference between these two: Governor Romney presented a plan, however briefly, that he hopes to establish once elected, while President Obama chose to attack his opponent rather than offer plans for a second term.
Governor Romney had a resounding theme throughout this speech: We don't have to accept the failure that has been this administration-- we can change it and once again become that shining city on a hill. First, though, I'm posting the plan he spoke of in his speech.
First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables. Second, we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. When it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance.
Third, we will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. And when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences.
Fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget.
And fifth, we will champion SMALL businesses, America’s engine of job growth. That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them. It means simplifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most. And it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing Obamacare.
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You deserved it because during these years, you worked harder than ever before. You deserved it because when it cost more to fill up your car, you cut out movie nights and put in longer hours. Or when you lost that job that paid $22.50 an hour with benefits, you took two jobs at 9 bucks an hour and fewer benefits. You did it because your family depended on you. You did it because you’re an American and you don’t quit. You did it because it was what you had to do.
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I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we CAN do something. With your help we will do something. Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, “I’m an American. I make my destiny. And we deserve better! My children deserve better! My family deserves better. My country deserves better!”
So here we stand. Americans have a choice. A decision! Governor Romney did a phenomenal job of displaying the choice we have in November. We can choose to continue down this path to destruction or we can do better and elect someone with a plan to get us out of this mess.
President Obama seemed to do little other than attack Governor Romney, and failed to provide concrete details regarding his plans for a second term.
Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn't have much to say about how they'd make it right. They want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. And that's because all they have to offer is the same prescription they've had for the last thirty years.
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But unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this country's energy plan, or endanger our coastlines, or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers.
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My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly. His speech sounded eerily similar to 2008. He made many of the same promises and uttered many of the same phrases. However, he didn't do much talking about his record over the last four years-- something that surprises me, considering he has an advantage already as the incumbent President. If he really deserves a second term, he should be able to run on his own record rather than attack his opponent's ideas and plans.
After combing through the speeches, I can definitely say that the Republican convention was more beneficial to the party than the Democratic convention was to its party. The RNC delivered ideas and enthusiasm, while the DNC delivered attacks and more of the same. We can't afford to keep what we've had for the last four years if we want to preserve this country as it was intended to be. It's going to take change-- big change-- to correct our problems. While the conventions usually don't make much of a difference, I think the RNC was more effective in taking its positive message to the people.