I was pleased to see a broad spectrum of topics discussed over the course of the week, all stemming from the Republican Primary Elections. We covered the candidates’ stances on immigration, the economy, healthcare, contraceptives, and U.S military presence in Iran. We also integrated highly debatable issues into the discussion such as Obama’s initial promise to close down Guantanamo Bay, the pros and cons of Obamacare in contrast to those of universal healthcare in other countries, and the motives behind the Republican candidates for attacking each other’s policies as well as Obama’s policies.
The class consensus on Friday seemed to be that Obama will win in the end and continue his second term of presidency. With the elections being so strained out this year, Obama’s chances of winning are high. Although there were some of us that predicted Obama triumphing over the Republican nominee, (most likely Mitt Romney), easily, others interjected saying that Romney has a considerable chance against Obama. Romney has been flexible on the issues of abortion, immigration, and Obamacare. However, ardent Republicans and conservatives, as much as they may dislike Romney for being too moderate and ambiguous on certain issues, will still vote for a Republican president over Barack Obama. There are also many that criticize Obama’s performance as a president in the past few years, especially since he has been continuing some of President Bush’s policies. However, as brought up by Sharon in class, the president’s powers are limited and passing a bill through Congress into law is a lengthy and challenging process. The notion that President Obama can make every change he promised is very idealistic because the cooperation of Congress and the people are needed, and the fact that we have a Democratic president with a Republican Congress makes it even more difficult.
I also came across a link this morning, which shows a scatter plot of the different demographic groups that voted for either Santorum or Romney in Ohio on Tuesday:
As you can see, the Evangelists and true conservatives evidently voted for Santorum because of his religious views. Many groups that were concerned about the economy and those who agreed with the stance that abortion should be deemed illegal in most cases voted for Romney. This exit poll data further distinguishes the issues that Romney and Santorum prioritize.
To conclude, I hope the American people choose the right candidate for President. We need someone sincere that can improve our current status as a country, both economically and socially. One that does consider the entire country as a whole while still caring for the individual, and not just concentrating on any particular class.
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