Don't Blame Yourself for Voting for Obama in '08- Just Don't Do It in '12

Today as I drove home I saw a bumper sticker on the car in front of me that read "Don't Blame Me- I Voted for the Other Guy". It was amusing, but got me thinking- should people be blamed for voting for Obama in 2008? The answer is no- if you or any of your family voted for President Obama in 2008, it was a mistake, but I believe it was an understandable mistake.

Let's look back on President Obama circa 2008 see just what sort of a candidate he was and what sort of campaign he ran using a great resource called Living Room Candidate. Here is how candidate Barack Obama's campaign is described there:

Barack Obama’s campaign created a number of positive ads that emphasize such words as “values” and “work,” portraying him as someone whom working-class voters can feel comfortable with. While Obama’s ads tended to be more positive in tone than McCain’s, there were also a large number of attack ads. Just as President Clinton’s 1996 ads linked Bob Dole with Newt Gingrich, nearly all of Obama’s attack ads linked John McCain with President Bush, whose approval ratings are extremely low. By linking McCain to Bush, the Obama campaign successfully undercut McCain’s image as an independent maverick.

In advertisement after advertisement in 2008, Barack Obama pounded a steady theme- that he was an agent of change that would bring our nation back towards hope by rising above partisanship and embracing every good idea that was proposed. He talked about how he would pull us out of Iraq and that he would sit down an engage in smart diplomacy with our enemies. He pounded on the fact that he would be a smart and savvy leader who would have the sound judgement and wisdom to make the right decisions facing our nation. He linked his opponents in the Democratic Party and in the Republican Party to corruption and special interests and vowed that not only would he be the cleanest, least corrupt politician in the White House, that he would root out special interests and make the White House open and clean and transparent. And he promised to cut the deficit in half and leave our nation with a balanced budget. These were all great goals and promises that a lot of American people could get behind in 2008.

Watch how in this speech he hammers Congress for 'failing to ask the hard questions'- questions about why contracts were awarded to certain groups, why policies were undertaken when the nation clearly didn't have to money to engage on them, and he ripped the Congress a new one for 'giving the President open-ended authority' to make actions and spend money. Obama was right- America doesn't want a President that is unrestricted and making rules up as he goes, playing around with slush funds of cash, and using executive orders to get around the authority of Congress and the people, and he was right to hammer Congress on it.

Take a look at this speech he gave where he laid out his reasons for running for office. In it, he says that we need a new President for 3 reasons- first reason, that we need someone who can bring our nation together and rise above the divisions and partisanship that is dividing our nation, second reason, that we need someone who can 'take on the special interests and win', and third reason, 'telling the truth to the American people even when it's tough.' Back in 2008, and today too, these are good reasons to vote for him and it is understandable that people would support that.

Or watch this one, where Obama lays out the argument to vote for him in the primary in Iowa back in 2008. In it, Obama says that the reasons to vote for him is that he has a track record for reducing the power of lobbyists in DC, that he was opposed to the war in Iraq from the start and will immediately bring our troops home, that he would help out working families and raise their pay and lower the costs of healthcare, that he wouldn't push national programs in education without properly funding those programs, and that we can be 'assured' that he will be who he says he is. He pounds the point that we can trust him- that he is who he says he is and that he isn't going to change once he gets in the White House.

Don't blame yourself for voting for Obama in 2008- in campaign advertisement after campaign ad, he said the right things and talked about doing a lot of good things for our nation. It was understandable if you voted for him based on these ads, and since there was very little background or track record of him, that was pretty much all you had to go on. And McCain wasn't the best choice and ran one of the worst campaigns ever, so don't blame yourself for voting for Obama in 2008.

But look back at all that he ran on in 2008 and compare it to what the results were and who he is today. He did the opposite of everything that he said, he ruined everything he wanted to help, he has presided over divisive and protests like no other- both Tea Parties on the right and Occupiers on the left-, he has piled up debt and put in place structural deficits that will bankrupt America, he took many years to take our troops out of Iraq while expanding troops in Afghanistan and committing our military to many more countries, he has made the White House more opaque, corruption is rampant and massive contracts were awarded to companies with few questions asked- likely due to campaign donations those companies gave him personally-, he throws around his authority without limit, signs executive orders to go around Congress, has blocked fundamental and tough reforms from being put in place, has increased unemployment and the number of people on food stamps, and has made foolish decision and statement after foolish statement and decision.

Most importantly, you shouldn't blame yourself for voting for Obama in 2008 because you trusted him- but if you vote for him in 2012 everyone should blame you because you still trust him. He lied to you- he lied to all of us- he promised us things and pounded on the themes of trust and believing him him, and he did not do those things. He lied, and in 2012, America should hold him accountable for his lies, which are all public record and easily found (follow this link yourself), and he should be thrown out of office and the Republican nominee- whether it is Romney, Perry, Cain, or someone else- should be our next President of the United States.