Increasingly I am taking the time to counter liberals responding to something they read in an email distribution from a mutual friend who is a conservative. Recently I stayed up until almost 1:30AM on one such response. One morning I awoke at 5 a.m. and couldn’t go back to sleep so I responded to another. What follows is a summary of one such exchange.
Mike if you believe:
• that small businesses are not a key to getting good jobs for many of our 23,000,000 unemployed/under-employed or advancing the level of position/earnings so they are no longer under-employed;
• Obama will be better than Romney at creating non government jobs;
• Obama will be better than Romney at balancing the budget and starting to reduce our staggering debt;
• Obama promotes free enterprise as the main driver of jobs despite never having worked in business and having no key advisers who have;
• Obama’s life, key people who influenced him and his basic ideology are better for leading than Romney and;
• somehow miraculously the next 4 years will be much better than the past 4 years under Obama
then you are going to vote for Obama end of conversation. Good luck and God help all of us!
Well low and behold Mike said he believed in all of the list above. I responded that during my career I have been directly involved in the hiring of over 2,300 people for my employers in HR and P&L positions, as a search consultant and with almost 300 hires for my own company. I’ve learned a number of valuable lessons but two in particular are key.
The first key is that “the best indication of the future for the person being considered is his/her past.” While this has tons of implications I concentrated on his comment that Romney “tortured the truth by saying he can cut $5 trillion with 20 percent across the board tax cuts.” For starters this is not the position of Romney. As Paul Ryan said, “since Obama can’t run on his record he distorts Romney’s record/positions.”
In regard to truth I said that when you compare the influence of family on Obama versus Romney, friends (ie Frank Davis, Bill Ayres, Jeremiah Wright, etc), environment in which each operated (ie Chicago politics) and faith I think most reasonable people would conclude that Obama is far more likely to “torture the truth.” The nonsense coming from the administration about our Ambassador and two former Navy Seals being killed in Benghazi, Libya is tragically classical.
The second key I have learned is “let the facts speak louder than the reasons given for the facts.” In this regard defenders of President Obama somehow dismiss his long list of failures during the past 4 years. They must rationalize, as does Obama, that it was President Bush’s fault and/or Obama will have a miraculous change in the next 4 years. This reminds me of the all too frequently heard comment by someone planning to marry a person with a bad background that “he or she will change.” Right!
I will admit that President Clinton changed after Republicans won majority control of the House and Senate two years into Clinton’s presidency. However when the Republicans won control of the House in 2010 after Obama was president for two years Obama made no such change.
Finally Mike made a frequently mentioned point by liberals that Lincoln, FDR and Reagan did not have a business background. I responded that Romney is far more than just a businessman which in of itself is a huge plus given a world economy that is vastly different than they faced; 23 million unemployed, given up looking or underemployed; and MASSIVE deficits. Further Romney has been a successful governor in a state dominated by Democrats and he successfully guided a turnaround of the Salt Lake Olympics. I then concluded that when you compare their track records it isn’t even close which is why I’m voting to “hire” Romney.
Since it is unlikely my late evening/early morning email exchanges with some liberals are going to change their votes why do I do it? For starters we need to defend what we believe. By doing it I learn how liberals think and their challenge to how I think is healthy. Further my responses require research which better equips me so I can more effectively influence some undecided voters. Additionally I distribute my responses to others. We have less than one week to influence our circle of friends and family. On November 6 win or lose I want to be able to look in the mirror and say I helped/tried.
Why do you think your party, the Republican party, lost the presidency? Romney's comments early in the campaign were that he "wanted to win the election." That bothered me and many others. He and the party were simply too "anti" virtually everything. Anti-abortion not pro-choice. Anti-gay marriage not pro who cares and equality for all. Anti-marijuana instead of (pro) legalize it and tax it into oblivion. Anti-Chinese instead of pro-trading partners. Obviously there are more "antis". The party or what he conveyed as the principles thereof proved to of be the past and not progressive and with the times. Obama at least said that he learned from this campaign. He admitted his mistakes and that due to this, he was a better man and would be a better president. Romney will be forgotten until his book comes out and then he will sit back with his millions looking down at the lesser 98% but especially the 47% (or was it 48%?)that mow his lawn, wash his cars and accept his scraps. If the Republican Party wishes to succeed, it has to stay with the times and needs a serious revamping. Any chance it will begin working with the Democrats and the people or will it continue to be simply "anti?" If you wish to answer my questions, fine. Otherwise you can be like the minister who sits back and cowers. We all know that if Romney had won, every terrorist and nation that supports terrorism would have tested him since all he did was talk. They knew what Obama would have done...send in the SEALs or put a drone in their laps.
Yes.
Mike
Does it ever bother you to only vote Republican because the person happens to be a member of that party? I mean I've seen people who would vote for Adolph Hitler if he were 1. alive and 2. of their political party. Have you ever thought that one of the major problems with our nation is that is people vote for the party and not the person or the ideas that are presented? Jesse Ventura seems to have the best ideas and isn't afraid of speaking his mind. How much did those conventions cost by the way? Were they paid for IN FULL by the parties or did Uncle Sam throw in a part and weren't they totally unnecessary? What do the accountants have to say about this? Why are average citizens being punished by mismanagement by having to pay higher taxes and getting less in return? Maybe the country's just too big to run itself effectively. Just curious but you said you've hired or been "involved" in hiring of 2600 persons in your career. How long has this career been? If it's 25 years that's 104 per year. Is that a good thing, above, below or just average? Not a critique but a question as are the ones prior to it. Your response, not filled with emotions but logic is appreciated and don't lose any sleep over it. Thanks.
Dear Editor:
This is a generic response to the opinion of Mr. Brown on the 11-1-2012 LDN editorial page.
Well, Jeff. I do believe that a person’s past is the best predictor his or her future. Therefore, with a greedy record of exploitation of employees, it is clear that Romney has no plans to help middle class Americans or the other 47% of us (military, students, retired, disabled, etc.). It is also clear that the Bush administration’s policies (to which Romney would return) precipitated the 2008 economic collapse, and that cutting taxes while pursuing two wars without paying for them caused the deficits which Republicans love to complain about today. Further, Romney’s two-faced approach to government spending illustrated by his seeking a $50,000,000 government bail-out of the Utah winter Olympics, but opposing federal help to the now thriving US auto industry is a fair indication of his selfish and warped priorities.
Similarly, Jeff, the four Obama years have shown steady economic improvement over the mess handed to him by Bush. We were on the verge of another great depression, but now we are not. There were no miracles, but I expect that Obama’s balanced approach will continue to help improve the economy over the next four years. So, while you are scurrying around at the last minute to get your circle of friends and family to vote for Romney, I will relax, knowing that all of my family and friends have already voted early for President Obama.
Mike Smith