The White House is the ultimate destination. Photo courtesy whitehouse.gov
State primaries are underway, and that means the candidates are at each others throats trying to get the nomination for the GOP. Whoever gets elected into this spot, will be thrown against Barack Obama, the current President and major incumbent. Obama has had a historical run in office, as the first black president he has gotten a lot of his agenda passed, he’s increased the funding to historically all black schools, increased benefits for military families, and has created more jobs in the energy field. Obama’s approval rating has fallen dramatically over his time in office, but no one can say that he has not been busy getting his ideals across. Obama-care was a gutsy piece of legislation that still needs a lot of improvement before it flies with both sides of the political spectrum.
The candidates seeking his job are Ron Paul, a doctor from Texas. Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts. Newt Gingrich, Speaker. And Rick Santorum, a former senator of Pennsylvania. Ron Paul is a strong libertarian still trying to run under the GOP’s nomination, he’s popular with the younger crowd especially college kids due to his desire to legalize marijuana. Paul is a advocate for minimal governmental interaction, he wants to lift the embargo of Cuba, and speaks about lowering foreign military spending by fifteen percent. Like the other three candidates, Paul calls himself pro-life as well. Santorum is a big social conservative, he was a supporter of Bush’s tax cuts, but strives to balance the budget, granted this is a fairly common goal of candidates. Santorum is a polarizing figure though due to his conservative beliefs, he is a strong advocate for family life and looks down upon gay marriage, a rapidly growing trend in our country. The more traditional GOP candidates would be Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Romney is a millionaire from Massachusetts, and Gingrich is the former Speaker of the House. Gingrich has a very speckled past, including, having an affair while trying to impeach Clinton for the same offense, and it is also reported that he divorced his wife while she was in the hospital with cancer. Family life aside Gingrich has built up a strong support base and is still a strong contender in the polls. Romney, who has been ahead of the polls for months holds similar values. However, his ideals have been challenged time after time due to his introduction of Romney-care in Massachusetts. Romney-care is very closely related program to Obama-care, which Romney now claims he is completely against. This fact is thrown at him time after time in debates, and people are ignoring his better points to focus on his piece of legislation that seemed to work on the state level.
All things considered, the Republican party has a lot of organizing to do if they want to stand a chance against Obama, even in his media weakened state. Too many different ideals are being shown and the more they debate amongst themselves, the worse they look. Once unity is formed though. I believe that the candidates could make some noise in the future.
Thanks for the article. I always enjoy reading the political opinions of folks in my hometown. Until a few minutes ago, I wasn’t aware the NewsStreak was online.
What with the Virginia primary taking place during Super Tuesday, I expect things are going to be even more exciting.
Let me ask you Conner, has anyone done either a straw poll or a mock election at HHS yet? I’d be quite interested in hearing how such an event would go. I expect it could be a good indication how the residents of Harrisonburg will vote on March 6th. Although I’m showing my age, I remember when we held one for Clinton v. Dole back in 1996.
Anyway, it was good to stumble upon your writing. I hope that more students take an interest in both politics and writing. Heaven knows that the politically literate are a dwindling class.
Best wishes!