Tag Archive: Obama


Election 2012: Vote projections

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May 19, 2012

Even though President Obama’s reelection campaign has an uphill climb to victory in November, it is still a formidable force. Obama is desperate, and his plan to deface Romney’s character and public image will likely have a significant impact on voters this election season. However, I believe that Romney will be able to secure victory for one major reason: the economy.

If Romney can seal up economically troubled states, he will easily win the election.

Mitt Romney stands to benefit from the current economic downturn. Growth has slowed to a crawl across the country, and President Obama’s policies have seemingly done little to relieve the suffering of millions of Americans. This lack of relief, consequently, has fueled a rise in the anti-incumbent mentality among potential voters, as these voters see little improvement in their lives and view new leaders as the only solutions to their problems. Thus, President Obama will face some significant difficulties in November if the economy continues to be stagnate.

For example, take a look at the electoral map above, which I created with a useful tool on the New York Times website. (If you want to play around with this tool yourself, click here). In my electoral map, Romney barely defeats President Obama, gaining 279 electoral votes to clinch the presidency. However, take a look at the tossup states, shown in yellow, that Mitt Romney wins: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Nevada, Iowa, and Virginia. In Florida, the economic downturn has been extremely damaging, causing record numbers of foreclosures and declining quality of life. Romney’s economy-centered message will resonate well there and will probably give him a victory, especially if he chooses well-liked Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be his running mate. Colorado and Virginia have been reliably Republican in the past, and given the current economic position of the US, they will probably go to Romney in November. However, Nevada and Wisconsin are particularly intriguing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 11.7%. The economy in Nevada has been hammered by the recession, and because of this, voters there find President Obama’s economic record to be awful at best. Contrary to popular belief, I think Nevada will be an easy victory for Romney, or at least a Romney-leaning state, due to the severity of the recession there. And then, there is Wisconsin, a state where Republican Gov. Scott Walker has taken significant steps to reduce the bargaining rights of public employee unions to balance his state’s budget. As a result of Walker’s policies, Wisconsin’s economy has righted itself and is on the fast track to lasting success. However, Walker is hated by the Democrats in Wisconsin, who have put up a candidate to run against Walker in a recall election this June. A comfortable victory for Walker would reveal that Wisconsin voters believe that the policies of their governor, which run contrary to those of the president, are the best for their state. Consequently, such a result would show that Mitt Romney will likely scoop up Wisconsin as yet another easy victory.

This electoral map is by no means a concrete prediction, but it is what I think might happen in November from what is happening now. If my prediction changes dramatically, I will be sure to update all of you.

So, how do you think the election will turn out? Leave your thoughts below or on our Facebook page!

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Obama’s “Julia” reveals his vision for America

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May 8, 2012

Obama’s vision for America is one of slavery to government, not one of personal achievement.

From cradle to grave, the government will take care of you.

This is the message that lies behind a series of interactive slides on President Obama’s campaign website. And, quite honestly, this message is quite a frightening one, especially considering our nation’s founding. Every person, as enumerated in our Declaration of Independence, has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And unless I’m crazy, being a slave to the federal government for every need and desire does not seem to provide for these unalienable, God-given rights in an ideal fashion.

But before I definitively gut the basis of President Obama’s argument, I will share with you the nature of the slides themselves. The interactive slideshow depicts the life of a fictitious woman named Julia and shows how the policies of the Obama administration help her from cradle to grave. For example, when Julia is three years old, she is enrolled in President Obama’s Head Start program (which, by the way, has proven to be an utter failure). Of course, the slideshow portends, Julia would not be able to attend school under Paul Ryan’s budget, which Mitt Romney supports. From cradle to grave, Julia is depicted in the context of government dependence. With Obamacare, Julia thankfully has access to health care and gets access to lifesaving surgery. Thanks to Obama, Julia has a right to the same pay as men in the workplace. Without Obama, Julia wouldn’t have made it through college, wouldn’t have gotten free birth control, wouldn’t have borne a healthy child, and wouldn’t have been able to start her own business. Of course, the evil Romney administration (sarcasm) would have ensured that Julia would fail at everything in her life.

The story of Julia is, quite frankly, downright creepy. Does President Obama really think that the American people are so incompetent and helpless that the government must step in on their behalf for every single one of their needs? Moreover, does he believe that government can fulfill the dreams and desires of millions of Americans? Both of these questions are largely rhetorical in nature, as we both know that President Obama believes firmly in the power of government to restore the lives of Americans. Obama has spent trillions in failed stimulus spending programs and has only managed to drive the American economy even deeper into the ditch. Now, as true recovery continues to elude the country and Americans drop like flies from the labor force, President Obama continues to promote the same government-oriented policies and regulations that caused the housing bubble and that have prolonged our recession. As evidenced by the story of Julia, Obama’s vision for America is one of slavery to government, not one of personal achievement and hard-earned success.

President Obama’s vision has been tried and tested all over the world, but has failed tremendously. Communism and socialism are both two examples of how the good intentions of government-centered reform can lead entire nations down a dark road paved with poverty, anguish, and the suppression of human rights. In China, millions still starve because their government is oppressive and stalls free-market reforms that could save their lives. In North Korea, people suffer and die in prison camps for speaking out against the ideas of the government elite. Although many socialist and communist regimes have operated with the good intention of helping their people, the programs that are needed to level society are painful and costly both monetarily and in a humanitarian sense. In Russia alone, millions have perished at the hands of communist leaders who have willingly sacrificed lives for the “common good” of the Russian population. The fact is that the best way to ensure maximum communal success is to adopt free market policies that reward innovators and job creators while providing working-class Americans with more opportunities than their ancestors.

Check out the creepy slideshow yourself here, and please share this article with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, or whatever else fits your fancy. By the way, just so you know, I will be taking two Advanced Placement exams and my school finals in the coming weeks, and I may get slightly behind on writing articles. However, you can rest assured that I will do my best to keep up.

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Obama’s trump card: throw out Joe Biden

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May 5, 2012

If his situation becomes dire, President Obama might throw Joe Biden under the bus in a last-ditch effort to shake up the November election. Photo credit: Hugh Dillon/WENN.com.

At Ohio State University today, President Obama officially kicked off his 2012 election campaign. However, he did so in an utterly unspectacular fashion. Despite his high hopes for the November election, President Obama failed to attract a large enough crowd to even come close to filling the 20,000-seat stadium, with estimates by the campaign itself showing only 70% attendance there. Clearly, the president’s campaign is suffering from a major enthusiasm gap, and if Obama has any hopes of surviving the election, he will have to address this gap. Ironically, he may decide to take a leaf from the book of his 2008 general election challenger John McCain and attempt to invigorate the Democratic base by tossing Vice-President Joe Biden just before the election.

President Obama could benefit slightly from such a move, but he could also suffer tremendously. For some voters, the elimination of Joe Biden would be a refreshing change, a sign of new life in the clearly stagnant Obama administration. However, for others, such a move would indicate the utter desperation of the Obama campaign for a victory in November. Biden has worked very hard for President Obama, even earning the nickname “campaigner-in-chief” for his extraordinary work on the campaign trail for Mr. Obama. Although certainly not without his gaffes (don’t even get me started…), Biden has been a crucial asset for the president, and his dismissal would clearly indicate to educated voters that the Obama administration is resorting to desperation to win the election.

If you were wondering why I think Biden’s dismissal is on the table, it is because he has been increasingly cut off from the administration in recent weeks. Biden is no longer included in President Obama’s Sunday campaign meetings, which are – according to the New York Times - reserved for “trusted confidants.” I, as well as the writers at the Weekly Standard, think that this indicates that Biden potentially is not considered to be a trusted confidant by the administration and therefore has been deemed expendable. It is entirely possible that the president will drop Biden to gain political points, but I sincerely doubt the effectiveness of this tactic. If Biden is fired, you can rest assured that the Obama administration is in its death throes.

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President Obama struggling with blue collar Democrats

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April 27, 2012

Obama's constant vacationing during our economic meltdown has left many Democrats wondering where their president's heart truly is.

Out of touch.

These are the words that blue collar Democrat voters are using to describe President Obama, and these are the words that will spell doom for the president come November. Thanks to his “do as I say, not as I do” mentality about taxpayer dollars, President Obama is falling far short with blue collar voters.

These voters are very resentful of Mr. Obama because he is so disconnected from their respective plights. Long, costly vacations to Spain, Hawaii, and Martha’s Vineyard on the taxpayer dime have certainly raised eyebrows in this crucial voting block, as most blue collar workers are not in a financial position to take long vacations or even to enjoy some time off from work. As Obama vacations, many of these voters reason, the rest of the country suffers, and this disconnect is deeply unsettling.

President Obama is facing some serious difficulties with his image. Republicans have successfully portrayed him as an obstruction to economic improvement, and anemic economic growth has continued to back this portrayal. However, Obama’s greatest strength has always been his personal image, not his political one. During the 2008 election, Mr. Obama was warm, charismatic, forceful, and articulate. Today, with an election looming, the president will need to at least maintain this image if he is to have any hopes of being competitive in November. Unfortunately for the president, however, his vacations and other forms of extravagance during an economic downturn will do little to preserve his image, as they will work against it. Extravagance in the face of catastrophe is viewed by the American people as cold, hypocritical, and just plainly insensitive. Such a mentality about President Obama, especially when held by members of his base, will be lethal for President Obama’s reelection chances.

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Are you better off?

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April 24, 2012

Romney will need to remind Americans of the problems that President Obama has created and/or has failed to solve. Pictured: Romney speaking to a crowd.

In recent weeks, Mitt Romney has emerged as the Republican candidate to take on President Obama in November. Tonight, Romney will be giving a speech to debut his official general election message, and based on some early excerpts of the speech released by the Romney campaign, it seems that Romney is framing the next election perfectly.

Mitt Romney has been running with several general themes throughout the primary season. He has talked about the need to roll back regulation, simplify the American tax code, and to grow the American economy. However, Romney spent little time on semantics and delivery of his message during the primary season, and thus, the kind of striking slogans and mottoes that characterized Barack Obama’s successful run back in 2008 have largely eluded Mr. Romney…until now. Romney plans to focus voters’ attention upon one crucial question: are you better off than you were four years ago?

The wave of enthusiasm that propelled President Obama into the White House has since vanished, and Obama is floundering in his attempts to convince voters that he has bettered their lives. Unemployment has refused to duck below pre-recession levels, even with massive numbers of Americans leaving the labor force and artificially lowering the unemployment rate. Companies are moving jobs overseas as fast as they can, domestic energy costs have skyrocketed, and the national debt has ballooned to near-catastrophic levels. Amid all these problems, Obama is still claiming success with every piece of good economic news, and of course, taking no credit for economic failures.

Romney posing this profound question to voters is an extremely intelligent move on his part. When voters go to the polls this coming November, they will not listen to either Mitt Romney or his opponent to determine whether or not President Obama deserves another four years in office. Instead, a voter will look back and think about how the incumbent has improved or decreased his quality of life. And based on our current economic situation, with new doomsday news emerging everyday, it seems fairly obvious to me that the vast majority of voters will find President Obama’s work over the past few years to be utterly unsatisfactory.

To get an idea of how damaging Mr. Romney’s speech tonight will be for the Obama campaign, only take a look at the media coverage it is (or rather, isn’t) receiving. NBC News and CBS are refusing to interrupt their normal broadcasting to cover Mr. Romney’s speech, and according to BuzzFeed, ABC News has not yet commented but – in my view – is unlikely to cover Mr. Romney either. Try to catch Romney’s speech on Fox News or CNN tonight, and comment on this article or on our Facebook page to tell me what you think about it! Is it effective?

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French elections show what’s to come in November

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April 22, 2012

By simply being in power during the Euro debt crisis and during the global economic downturn, Sarkozy is experiencing great difficulty selling his ideas to French voters, who don't see beyond France's current economic woes.

High unemployment. Illegal immigration. Jobs moving overseas. Sound familiar?

These are just a few of the main problems that the US is currently experiencing as a part of its deep economic downturn. Many political pundits have predicted that these problems will have a major impact upon the presidential race here in November, and looking to France, I think these pundits are dead right.

France is currently holding elections, and incumbent president Nicholas Sarkozy has been in power throughout both the global recession and the Euro debt crisis. France’s economy is beleaguered, with businesses fleeing the country in droves and illegal immigrants flooding into the already fragile job market. Tied to failing European countries such as Greece and Italy by the euro currency, France is in serious trouble. Dealing with the debt of other nations is quite exasperating for the French, who have been fairly responsible with their cash, and thus a debate has emerged over whether or not France should drop out of the euro or mitigate its losses through the creation of a more tightly centralized regional governing body to force Greece and other indebted nations to become fiscally responsible. Clearly, serious issues are in play in France.

But how will this affect the election? Mr. Sarkozy, the incumbent, pulled a tight second in the first round of voting. Although this second-place finish allows Sarkozy to move on to the second round to compete against the first-round victor (as the first round is a runoff round), such a finish does not bode well for Sarkozy, who – barring a last-minute surge – will not be able to retain his hold on the presidency.

French voters are skeptical about Sarkozy for the same reason that American voters are skeptical about Obama here in the US. Sarkozy has been at the helm during a deep economic recession, and his mere presence has convinced voters that the economic woes experienced by their country are his responsibility. Even if Sarkozy is a good steward of the French economy as he proclaims, he will not be able to win over the French people without producing definable facts detailing his success. Similarly, President Obama will suffer in the election this November if he is unable to produce a viable record of success that can survive the harsh inspection of the American voter.

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Obama and the Supreme Court

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April 5, 2012

Because the Supreme Court is obligated to follow the Constitution, striking down Obamacare would be an extremely radical move on the part of the Court.

“Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress. And I’d just remind conservative commentators that for years what we’ve heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint — that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.”

Much of the hubbub in the non-mainstream media over the past week has been about this questionable quotation from our very own President Obama regarding his much beloved (not) health care law. Some conservatives have argued that his comments convey a desire to abandon our country’s checks and balances system, while still others have called it a purely political calculation to attempt to turn Americans against the supposedly evil, unelected Supreme Court. However, I identify myself with neither position, as I believe President Obama’s comments simply reveal his complete and total disconnect with the reality of his much-maligned health care law.

I believe that President Obama firmly holds that his health care law is in fact constitutional. However, even a cursory glance at the law reveals that this is simply not the case. Obamacare forces all Americans to purchase a commodity – in this case, health care – and punishes those who refuse with a hefty fine. Ask yourselves: how could our Founding Fathers, the writers of our nation’s Constitution, support such a bill? Our Founders were forced by the British Empire to purchase British goods and items prior to the Revolutionary War. In fact, one could argue that the reason America even exists is the overly controlling commercial policies of the British. Clearly, President Obama is out of touch with the reality of his own law as an unconstitutional, unprecedented overstep of his authority as the head of the US government.

President Obama is also out of touch with what Americans really think of their lawmakers. President Obama cites the “strong majority” of the “democratically elected” Congress as an indicator of the validity of his law and, henceforth, the constitutionality of it. However, according to RealClearPolitics, most Americans are utterly unsatisfied with their congressional representatives, with only 12% of respondents approving of the job Congress is doing. Putting aside Congress, Obamacare itself has little, if any, approval around the country. Recent national polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that a significant minority of respondents (34%) have a favorable view of President Obama’s health care law. Even so, American approval of Obamacare should have no bearing on the law’s constitutionality, and clearly, the law shatters the personal freedoms that the Constitution protects for Americans each and every day.

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Give up, Rick!

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April 2, 2012

Voters just want to get the primary process over with. This does not bode well for Rick Santorum and the other second tier candidates, who have promised to wage a protracted nomination battle with Mitt Romney. Pictured: Rick Santorum.

Whenever my family gathers for a holiday, there is an inevitable point during the night at which the conversation turns to politics. However, I can assure you that the primary election will not be a subject of conversation at the dinner table come Easter. Simply put, my family is downright sick of hearing about and talking about the GOP primary.

And this is how a great many voters currently feel about the primary thus far. Constant, exhausting coverage of the latest states won and the latest controversial comments by candidates has destroyed the collective desire of Americans to hear about the primaries at all, and debate after debate has firmly planted every single candidate’s positions into our minds. As a result of this overcoverage and repetition, voters are absolutely sick of hearing about the primaries. Fortunately, however, this disgruntled feeling is translating into a grudging unification of the Republican Party behind none other than former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. According to RealClearPolitics, Mitt Romney holds a comfortable nationwide lead over Rick Santorum, the momentum of whom has utterly disappeared over the past couple months. On the delegate front, neither Santorum nor the other second-tier candidates have any real means of challenging Mr. Romney in the August GOP convention. Yet, both Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have publicly announced that they will stay in the GOP race despite the fact that it is statistically impossible for either of them to win the nomination. That leaves Mr. Santorum, who would have to sweep nearly every remaining primary state in order to pull in enough delegates to win the GOP nomination. In other words, Santorum has no chance.

Rick Santorum claims that his deepest concern is defeating Barack Obama. If this is indeed the case, he should drop out of the GOP race and pledge his support for Mitt Romney. These actions will stop this already protracted primary from going any further and will give voters time to regain their enthusiasm and overcome their primary sickness before the general election. Defeating President Obama is the priority here, and Santorum should not risk jeopardizing a Republican victory for the sake of his own long-shot hopes of being the GOP nominee.

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Obama: “More flexibility” after the election?

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March 26, 2012

At the end of his meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea today regarding US-Russian relations, President Obama made a private comment to his Russian counterpart regarding US missile defense plans. This comment was picked up by the microphones in the room and has ignited outrage among many conservatives, who view the president’s comment as a reflection of his desire to scrap missile defense and to dangerously shrink America’s global military and defensive presence. The video of the president’s comments, as well as a text transcript, are visible below:

OBAMA: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.

MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…

OBAMA: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.

MEDVEDEV: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.

These comments are extremely alarming for a few reasons. Firstly, they demonstrate that President Obama is afraid of executing his foreign policy plans for fear of being ousted in the November elections. This timidity, of course, brings up all sorts of issues. What if President Obama decides to completely scrap the plans for a US missile defense shield over Poland after his election? What if he begins a dangerous drawdown of American military power? All of these radical options could be on the table for Mr. Obama, but unfortunately, we will not really know what our president is planning to do until he retakes his office in November. Republican Michael R. Turner, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, has demanded answers from the Obama administration on this odd quote for this very reason. If President Obama is afraid of revealing his plans for US missile defense to the American public before his election, Turner reasons, the president must believe that his plans will hurt him with voters. If this is indeed the reasoning behind President Obama’s comments, we should be extremely concerned, to say the least.

President Obama’s comments illuminate a growing trend in his foreign policy. Instead of standing up for US allies and interests, our country’s leader backs down and gives ground to dangerous peoples and countries. Iran is a fine example of this, as President Obama’s dilly-dallying on a military strike has given Iran the golden opportunity it needs to complete its nuclear weapon and eventually to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Meanwhile, Israel grows increasingly nervous, waiting for US aid and approval for an strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities that would save millions of lives in the long run. Similarly, President Obama is indicating that he will abandon Poland, one of the primary beneficiaries of the proposed missile defense shield, by making dramatic concessions to the Russians regarding the existence of the shield itself and the armaments with which such a shield would be equipped. The Poles are understandably nervous, of course. A major Polish tabloid posed the question “were they trading Poland?” in large print on its front cover today.

President Obama’s comments reveal a startling flaw in his character as well. Instead of letting the American people know who he is and what he truly wants for our country, President Obama wishes to deceive the American people and put off his big (scary) plans for foreign policy until after his reelection. This frightens me immensely, and I sure hope that Americans are not fooled by this latest episode of deceit and deception by the Obama administration.

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Give credit where it’s due, Mr. President

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March 24, 2012

The American people deserve a leader who is virtuous enough to acknowledge his failures and to give credit where it's due.

Taking responsibility for one’s actions is a major part of being a good leader. People who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes are generally not concerned about correcting them, since they do not conceive of their mistake in the first place. If I were to select one man as the most egregious perpetrator of this sense of irresponsibility, I would definitely pick President Barack Obama, as his responses to the mistakes of his presidency have consisted of little more than blather and blame.

Let’s take Solyndra as an example. Through a federal assistance program, emerging solar company Solyndra received nearly half a billion dollars of taxpayer money to subsidize its expensive solar panels and to help the business grow. President Obama visited Solyndra’s shiny new headquarters himself to announce to the world the extraordinary success of his green energy loan program and his wise investment of taxpayer dollars. But then, things went south. Solyndra went into bankruptcy, and their financial records revealed an absolute mess. The company was spending far more money than it was taking in, and was not in a position to repay its loan. However, thanks to the poorly-negotiated terms of the loan agreement, Solyndra was not obligated to pay its dues to the American taxpayer first. Instead, investors in the company covered their losses, and the American people were left hanging on an awful deal. What’s more, several major contributors to President Obama’s election campaign in 2008 had invested in the company prior to the introduction of federal funding to Solyndra’s coffers.

A good leader would have stood up and said that he had made a mistake. But not our president. Here’s what he had to say about Solyndra just recently (emphasis is mine):

We are doing the all of the above strategy right. Obviously we wish Solyndra hadn’t gone bankrupt.  Part of the reason they did was because the Chinese were subsidizing their solar industry and flooding the market in ways that Solyndra couldn’t compete.  But understand, this was not our program per se.  Congress, Democrats and Republicans, put together a loan guarantee program because they understood historically that when you get new industries, it’s easy to raise money for startups, but if you want to take them to scale, oftentimes there’s a lot of risk involved. And what the loan guarantee program was designed to do was to help startup companies get to scale.

I didn’t see a single “I” or “me” in that quote! Instead of taking responsibility for the actions of his administration regarding Solyndra (namely the utter disregard for the numerous red flags in Solyndra’s loan application and the company’s business plan), President Obama shifts the blame to China and to Congress for creating the loan program in the first place! Our president, of course, left out the fact that he himself championed this loan program and promised the American people that it would succeed. Thus, instead of taking responsibility for his actions, our president simply blames someone else.

President Obama is not shy about taking credit for good things that happen. A fine example of this is the killing of Osama bin-Laden, which had only been made possible by the lengthy and unpopular Afghanistan and Iraq Wars under President George W. Bush. Despite this, Obama still took credit for the killing of one of the most evil, violent people in the world. If President Obama wants to take credit for all the good things that happen, he should be similarly willing to take responsibility for the bad.

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