America votes - Shadowy Romney makes me uncomfortable

By Garth A. Rattray

I admire President Barack Obama not because of his calm demeanour, eloquence or ethnicity but because I feel that his heart is in the right place, because his administration has done well under the circumstances, because I feel that he is not motivated purely by politics, and because he possesses a deep sense of honesty, duty, purpose and responsibility.

It's upsetting to hear the naysayers (represented and led by Governor Romney) rant incessantly about how badly America has done under the Obama administration. The minute Obama took office, the GOP's mission was to remove him; they have consistently placed obstacles in his way. Governor Romney even had the temerity to sneakily insert the fear factor by twice suggesting (during the last presidential debate) that Obama's policies puts the great United States of America in danger of going the economic route of Greece.

That ploy is just plain chicanery. Such a pessimistic statement, coming from a governor and presidential contender, could have badly eroded confidence in the economy and resulted in disastrous global consequences. That makes me very uncomfortable.

convenient amnesia

I cannot understand how it is that so many people, somehow selectively and conveniently, forget that Obama inherited an economy that was in the beginning of an uncontrolled nosedive. How could anyone have the ridiculously unrealistic expectation that any mortal (or group of mortals operating in a fickle, fragile and extremely depressed global economy) could pull an entire nation out of such an economic decline unscathed, unaffected, with all its former economic glory intact, and in the record time of only four years (1,480 days)? That would have been nothing short of a miracle.

And, speaking of miracles, it took me a while to put my finger on what Governor Romney reminds me of. The injudicious and frequent use of the fear factor (including ... as ridiculous as it is ... the spectre of a socialist

America under Obama); the stinging and unfair criticisms; the wholesome and manicured visage meant to project an image of what many people see as the 'safe bet'; the mellifluous anecdotes (of questionable veracity), the cosmetic appearance of confidence and the promise of (what amounts to) economic miracles based on untried and unproven theories all remind me of some televangelists. That makes me uncomfortable.

WHO'S THE REAL ROMNEY?

There is a long list of flip-flops attributable to Governor Romney - that's very indicative of someone who will say anything to sway voters. It makes me wonder who the real Governor Romney is, and where he really stands. Are people voting for the Governor Romney who said, "I'm proud of what we've done. If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing [Romneycare], then that will be a model for the nation." (speech in Baltimore, 2007)

Or are they voting for the Governor Romney who said, "At the time I crafted the plan in the last campaign, I was asked, is [Romneycare] something that you would have the whole nation do, and I said no. This is something that was crafted for Massachusetts. It would be wrong to adopt this as a nation"? (presidential primary debate, 2011) That makes me uncomfortable.

In an article published in the Telegraph on October 24, 2012, Jon Swaine, Washington correspondent for the newspaper, writes that Walter De Vries, a former aide to Mitt Romney's late father, George Romney, views Mitt as an "unprincipled" flip-flopper who "would say and do anything" to win the US presidency. That makes me extremely uncomfortable.

Tomorrow, we'll see just how many American citizens feel uncomfortable with Governor Romney. In a time when all countries are interdependent and so many Caribbean people live in the USA, the outcome of these elections will impact us all.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.