Throughout the debate season we have seen the many faces of Barack Obama. The first debate we saw him disengaged; the second we saw him angry; and the third we saw him arrogant. President Obama’s failure to connect with the American people in 2012 is clearly evident. In this latest debate Obama looked more like a petulant child than the President of the United States.
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The arrogance was seen by all when President Obama said the following during this week’s debate, “You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.” Those on the Left and his friends in the media saw the comments as a plus for President Obama, but I strongly disagree. What America saw in their President was a childish response to a very strategically important question about the U.S. Navy.
America relies on free and open shipping lanes to move our commerce. If those lanes are closed or threatened, then our economy is threatened. Part of what has made America into a global superpower is the fact that we have a blue-water navy, meaning that a United States naval ship can go anywhere in the world to protect our interests. It takes many ships to accomplish that goal and what President Obama said this week no doubt prompted a celebratory cheer in Beijing.
The arrogance continued during this last debate when Governor Romney highlighted what former Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said recently about our national debt, “A nation with our current levels of unsustainable debt … cannot hope to sustain for very long its superiority from a military perspective, or its influence in world affairs.” America’s debt is spiraling out of control with the number north of $16 trillion and President Obama does not have a plan to get us out of this mountain of debt. President Obama did not respond to this point made by Mitt Romney because he has no answers.
Mitt Romney was very smart with how he steered the debate again and again back towards the economy. It goes without saying that the economy is what this election will be decided on and President Obama’s record is abysmal at best. Romney continued the line of attack that President Obama promised that the unemployment rate would be at 5.4 percent by 2012 with the stimulus. President Obama again had no answers.
President Obama’s multiple personalities were on full display throughout this debate season. With Americans heading to the polls in less than two weeks, they are seeking a President with an agenda that will work for them — not one that has failed over the last four years. Mitt Romney changed the narrative of the entire campaign after the first debate and his campaign has been surging ever since because he has had the facts on his side while President Obama had empty promises.
Barack Obama may have many faces, but his presidency has only one: failure.
