Party Conventions: Where We Stand

Written by Kevin Dunne

Americans can get into arguments over just about anything: religion, sports, music, who shot first, Han or Greedo, to name a few. The topic of many heated debates, more so than any other, is still politics. With a presidential race already in the works, you can be sure that these debates will increase, especially if you get on Tumblr or Facebook. Since it is the middle of the American political season, it’s best to know who is running for which party and what their platforms are. On the Republican ticket is Mitt Romney (P) and Paul Ryan (VP) and on the Democratic ticket is Barack Obama (P) and Joe Biden (VP). At their respective conventions, each candidate gave speeches on what they hope to accomplish as President.On August 28th, former governor of Massachusetts, 

photo by theblaze.com

Mitt Romney officially accepted the republican nomination for president. Opening with talk of the greatness of America and how its future is in jeopardy, Romney was able to capitalize on certain negative aspects of Obama’s presidency. Making himself out to be an average-Joe (for he had been accused of being an elitist) and a true-blooded American, Romney talked himself up a great deal. Romney spent a great deal of his time talking about his opponent, himself, and problems that America faced. Romney talked about utilizing natural resources like oil and gasoline energy, school choice for parents and students, establishing new trade partnerships, and balancing the budget. Other issues that Romney addressed were his stances against abortion, “repealing and replacing Obamacare,” helping small businesses and the middle class, and protecting the environment.

Photo by Just Jared.com

 When he first ran, current president Barack Obama’s campaign slogan was that of “change.” At the Democratic National Convention held on the 6th, Obama was all about the idea of moving forward. The President made numerous references to the common American citizen and really did an excellent job at talking about the people and American pride. Having the advantage of giving a speech after the Republican National Convention, Obama was able to chastise Mitt Romney’s points. Driving the point across of how Republicans only talked about what is wrong, but not how the problem will be fixed, Obama was able to contour his speech to rebut Romney. Being the incumbent, Obama was also able to pat himself on the back more than once. Talking about the road to recovery from our recent recession, job creation, the war overseas, tax cuts to the middle class and small businesses, improvements to the education system, and tax cuts to college students, Obama really had an edge that made him look more established than Romney. Never straying away from this tangible evidence and success, Obama even compared himself to Franklin Roosevelt and how they were both able to help America through tough crises.

Obama’s speech:

Video by barackobamadotcom / YouTube

Obama’s key points, besides the typical (and expected) opponent bashing, were further improvements to education, cutting the deficit, expansion of energy and manufacturing, national security, and the idea of nation building and really improving our country. Earlier on in his speech, Obama said that, “We have been there, we have tried that, and we are not going back. We are moving forward, America.” Obama, a prolific and practiced public speaker summarized his main ideas here while addressing people of all creeds and orientations. The idea that things aren’t working and need to change so that we as a nation can take a step forward were apparent throughout his acceptance speech. Both candidates addressed the idea of moving towards a better future for America and protecting the environment, all while heavily focusing on the middle class. However, neither candidate addressed the lower class or the poor specifically, which was extremely interesting.With the Presidential election being weeks away, each candidate still has plenty of time to address the American people and begin directly debating one another.