COLUMN: Obama platform fatigued, but still holding key to election victory

In September 2008, the voters of the United States were analyzing polls and debates that would determine whether the next President of the nation would be a young black Senator from Chicago or a Vietnam war hero and long-time Senator from Arizona. 

 

After a circus of a voting season which included SNL skits for the ages, Joe The Plumber and a quirky soccer mom from Alaska, Barack Obama found himself victorious.

 

Four years later, the nation finds itself back in the partisan saddle. 

Presidential ads, mudslinging, tax audits and fact-checking are as exciting to those of us in the media as the start of our fantasy football season. 

 

In this, the 2012 round, we have the incumbent Obama, who after four years has a few more gray hairs and several feats, which his constituents consider to be in their favor. A restructured healthcare system and a dead Osama bin Laden, along with the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the military, are just a few of the democratic candidate’s feats. 

 

However, some have been critical of the economic rebound, the moderate-centralist attitude, and in my opinion a lack of promises kept with regards to foreign affairs. 

 

On the other side we have Mitt Romney. The former governor of Massachusetts has his own set of bones in the closet. This successful businessman ran his previous platform that attracted many progressive voters in a fairly progressive state. 

 

With regard to many issues, including healthcare, abortion and gun control, Romney has flip-flopped his way into a convenient spot as the GOP candidate. 

 

Although his past campaigns may haunt him, Romney has a remarkable track record in the business world, politics and in his role in the 2002 winter Olympic games.

 

Assuming that the candidates hold steady in their respective positions until November, I think it is safe to assume that Obama will serve a second term. The Republican National Convention was about as exciting and colorful as a Waffle House, and regardless of policies or reputations, the voters will not go into the polls voting for a candidate who reminds them of the guy that sold them their used car. 

 

Obama has taken full advantage of advertising in “hip” media sources and has remained popular with the youth of America. The Romney campaign is attracting an older generation of conservative voters, but his boring persona and lethargic campaign is not enough. Like it or not, Obama will win this election because he was and is still “cool.”

 

— Benjamin Fuller is a senior economics major and a weekly columnist for The Mirror.