Looking Ahead: The Race to 2012

Hold on tight, the race is on! With the Presidential Election fast approaching, it is clear that the Republican Party is more than ready to take control of the White House come November 2012. However, as Republicans work aggressively to devise their winning strategy, they seem to be lacking one basic and crucial element…a candidate! While Republicans continue to analyze their list of promising candidates via a string of heated GOP debates, Democrats are working hard to strengthen Obama’s platform and improve his overall approval ratings. As the calendar creeps closer and closer to election day, many of America’s small business owners are left wondering, who will most-likely take the reigns of this great country and lead us back to work, back into the black and back on track?

Republicans are currently managing a list of ambitious contenders, all vying for the party’s nomination for the chance to face-off against President Obama and the Democrats. With primary elections nipping at their heels, the race for the Republican nomination will soon shift gears, focusing on television commercials and retail campaigns, as opposed to the heated debates we’ve seen dominate the airwaves over the past six weeks. Even after several rounds of fiery debates among the party’s top front-runners, the Republican Party still seems no closer to narrowing the pool of candidates. Some of the well-publicized contenders include, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann. Within the group, Romney has continued to appear as the steady candidate, with his differentiator being the argument that he would have the best chance to win in a race against Obama. Plus, he already has national campaign experience. Despite those advantages, Romney, struggles with overall public appeal, and as such, leaves the promise of his nomination far from secure. Surrounding Romney is an ever-changing playing field of potentially promising candidates, all of whom seem to gain and lose ground depending on the day, and there is still no clear leader. At this point, it is anyone’s game to win, given the fact that conservative Republicans remain unsure that Romney is, in fact, the strongest candidate to vet against Obama in the general election.

Democrats, on the other hand, remain confident that Obama will win re-election. They aren’t expecting a huge margin of victory, however, but they do expect a victory nonetheless.

During an interview with ABC News Senior White House Correspondent, Jake Tapper, President Obama shared his concerns regarding the country’s economy, as well as his struggles with new job creation and getting Americans back to work, especially in the construction industry. Obama acknowledged that he is acutely aware that many Americans are feeling the frustration of what they perceive to be very little progress on the economic front, even though he has “made good” on several of his campaign promises, such as healthcare reform, new guidelines for Wall Street and the like.  The President further explained that he feels Republicans are not always on board with solving issues, but rather work to infuse their own agenda into the process.  He knows many Americans feel he has not done enough to alleviate their financial pressures, and he also thinks that many are feeling extremely disconnected from their government.

At the end of the day, for the “average citizen,” the next several months will be very important as we begin to shape an opinion regarding our choice for President. When doing so, it is important to remember that at its core, the U.S. government was designed to provide a system of checks and balances, the spirit of which should also be reflected in the scheme of the country’s political parties. This balance was meant to offer citizens an ever changing and wide variety of potential representatives from which to chose, at all levels of government. Unfortunately, the never-ending blame game being played by today’s elected officials revolves more around political agendas rather than practical ones.

Many Americans have grown far too comfortable with the idea that “someone” else is to blame, and that “someone” else is responsible for solving our problems. The idea that “someone” will always come to the rescue has actually become somewhat of a crutch. Without a doubt, there are individuals, who in spite of their BEST effort are unable to make ends-meet and are more than deserving of government assistance. Unemployment benefits, Medicare and other government programs exist for a reason and serve a necessary purpose, but they must be used responsibly.

As American’s we are entrusting those we elect to make the difficult decisions necessary to bring this country back to a state of financial and economic health. Both Republicans and Democrats are facing a great deal of unrest from their voter bases. Americans are downright mad at their Congressional leaders, and rightly so. The country’s two-party system seems to be standing in its own way, often grinding to a halt over the most basic of discussions due to an unwillingness to bend in either direction. Many of the country’s most crucial issues are not going to be resolved with a definitively liberal or definitively conservative approach. Instead, they can only be tackled by using the best parts of both plans, resulting in a combined, moderate, effective and mutually beneficial solution. It’s as if the phrase, “it’s common sense,” is often stifled by the sound of Congressional leaders instead screaming, “it’s my way or the highway!”

Republicans and Democrats alike need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and view themselves through the eyes of the citizens they were elected to serve. Congressional leaders need to make a concerted effort to step towards middle ground, away from the polarized ends of party lines, and come up with some practical solutions to this country’s practical problems. At the end of the day, regardless of party affiliation, the Presidential candidate that can deliver an actionable, bi-partisan and attainable plan that can help put this country and its small businesses back on the road to success, is the candidate the American people will elect!