BRISTOW, Va. – President Obama took to the stage before an estimated crowd of 24,000 Saturday night to make his final plea to Virginians to give him a second chance.
He was flanked by former President Bill Clinton, who has made 26 other such appearances at his successor’s side this year. Attendance at Obama’s big rally was less than the estimated 30,000 people who attended Romney’s rally in Ohio Saturday evening or the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 who attended Obama’s rallies in the closing days of the 2008 campaign.
It’s not surprising that Obama’s rally didn’t draw as many attendees as Romney’s. The President’s speech was filled with the usual ear-catching words and phrases such as “change” and “champions of the middle class.” But just like all other Obama rallies there was one major piece that was missing: a lack of substance.
“Change is a country where every American has a shot at a great education,” Obama said. “But don’t tell me hiring more teachers won’t help our economy grow. That wasn’t an option for me; it wasn’t an option for Bill Clinton – I’ll bet it’s not an option for you.
“That’s why I want to cut the growth of tuition in half over the next 10 years,” Obama continued. “That’s why I want to recruit 100,000 math and science teachers, so we don’t fall behind the rest of the world.”
Yet, the President provided no details where the money would come from or how he would reduce overall spending.
He went his go-to line when it came to defending his economic policies, putting the blame on the previous administration. However, he never made a single reference to the fact that unemployment remains higher than when he took office.
Obama slammed the Bush administration for trying to “strip away regulations so that Wall Street and insurance companies, and oil companies were free to do whatever they pleased.”
His comments ignored the fact legislation signed by Clinton set the stage for the financial collapse and that Democrats fought bills in the Bush years that could have prevented the damage.
Obama tried discrediting Mitt Romney’s economic plan, while touting his plan for a balanced budget should he get a second term.
At the same time, the president glossed over the fact his budget had failed to receive a single vote in the House or Senate last year.
The Obama campaign continues trotting out meaningless numbers such as 5.5 million “new” jobs created since the recession and misleads the American people about what Obama’s “change” has really done.
When the President says “I want to build the economy from the bottom up,” Americans have to understand that you can’t build an economy off low-income jobs if there aren’t any businesses and corporations that are willing to hire these individuals.
The campaign rhetoric of “Giving everyone a fair shot” is just that; rhetoric, because with the administration’s current regulatory mindset this “fair shot” will never take place.
“That’s why you elected Bill Clinton in ’92. That’s why you elected me in ’08. That’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States,” Obama said, pointing to his “fair shot rhetoric.”
It is ironic that Obama has tied himself to President Clinton, a man who worked with Republicans during his second term to cut regulations and improve the business climate by cutting capital gains tax rates – something he abhors.
The true fair shot in America comes from the people, not the government. People like Thomas Peterffy, who immigrated to America from Hungary and created a multi-million dollar company reaffirm this.
But this message is too hard to understand for many because the definition of a “fair shot” for many of these people is a government check or handout; for them, it’s just about getting by.
There is no “greater good” in the type of mindset like Obama preaches. His mentality is the same sort that has led to the downfall of Greece and others, and if we are not careful then we will be next.
Obama may try to persuade Americans that we have a bright future by saying that “It’s the dreams of our children that will be our saving grace.”
But those children’s parents must know that there is no way their child’s dreams can become a reality with a spread-the-wealth-around mentality.
