A Tale of Two Conventions (Sept 9, 2012)

The Republican and Democratic conventions are over and an assessment of their revelations is in order.  After the fanfare and euphoria, reputable polls indicate the race between incumbent President Obama and aspirant Governor Mitt Romney are virtually tied, although a bump is expected for Obama after the Democratic convention.
Expanding the middle class was central to Obama's renewed promise to rescue the economy from the disaster he inherited, and creation of new manufacturing jobs imperative. In contrast, Romney highlighted debt reduction and a smaller government as critical for job growth, claiming superior abilty to deliver on those fronts
Both candidates and their surrogates failed to mention the simmering economic malaise in Europe and its contagious effects across the Atlantic. However, the Democrats touched on the US trade imbalance with China in the context of US jobs exports and the urgency of reviving domestic business confidence to generate jobs at home and reduce current US 8.1 percent unemployment.
The stark contrasts between the two parties go beyond fundamentally different visions for the future. The conventions evinced sharp distinctions such as inclusiveness-exclusiveness, forward-backward perspectives, and optimism-pessimism. The stage is now set for intensive and exciting presidential and congressional campaigns with far-reaching consequences.
The Democrats' picture of confidence and optimism, in spite of a troubled economy, is pitted against the Republicans' allegation that a Romney-Ryan ticket is better equipped to pull the country out of this economic and financial morass.Romney accused the Obama as not having business experience and resorting to divisiveness and recriminations.  But he failed to admit to the concerted Republican congressional obstructionism intended to prevent the President's reelection at all costs.

As the election fever heightens both parties have drawn the line in the sand on vision and values. But a chunk of the electorate are still undecided whether Barack Obama deserves another term or Mitt Romney should be the new President. The conventions gave a preview of what's to come on the road, especially in the swing states. Exhortations for "citizenship" and "we're all in this together" versus "I built it" and "financial acquisition" as the sole measure of success will be among the core themes of the torrid battle for votes.

 President Obama warned the same rules would apply to Wall Street, Main Street, and Washington DC and promised to create manufacturing jobs "made in America" and double US exports. There will be no more "corporate welfare", and emphasis will be placed on education as the gateway to middle class life as well as for students to fulfill their dreams to compete in the world. Romney echoed similar views on education, calling it the "civil rights of the time."

Displaying empathy, President Obama urged voters to be stakeholders in nation-building at home and to travel the rocky road with him to restore the American dream, reminiscent of San Antonio mayor Julian Castro's evocative imagery of his grandmother holding a mop and he now holding a microphone.

Former presidential aspirant John Kerry and Obama cast the Republicans as stuck in a "Cold War time warp" evidenced by Romney's calling Russia the main geopolitical foe of the US, or the "new to foreign policy Republicans" who have scant knowledge of the relationship between force and diplomacy. Romney's Olympics gaffe with the US " closest ally" revealed an ineptitude to engage, for example, Beijing diplomatically, Obama chided. Without mentioning her by name, the President parried Secretary Condoleezza Rice's unwillingness to give full credit to the Commander-in-Chief in the capture of Bin Laden, and the folly of engaging in a costly war in Iraq.

 The capture of Bin Laden and bailout of GM were signature Obama accomplishments brandished at the convention.  Kerry excoriated Romney for failing to mention US troops in his speech.  VP Biden's expounded on his close relationship and loyalty to the President and profound respect for Obama's qualities of leadership --  commitment, resolve, vision,  with a" backbone of steel". The President never backs down, he stressed.

As for Vice President nominee Paul Ryan's depiction of  the national debt, healthcare, and slow economic turn-around, President Bill Clinton's quintessential rebuttal  citing "arithmetic"  provided hard numbers, and emphasized that President Obama inherited the worse financial situation since President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  VP aspirant Ryan's voting record runs counter to his own rhetoric, Clinton intimated. Criticism resounded of new tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and vouchers for medicare.

The array of brilliant speakers at the Democratic convention far outstripped the Republicans'.  However, oratory is important but harsh realities, even poverty, still prevail.

 Elections are not won at conventions. They are won in the trenches. The debates, both presidential and vice-presidential, will afford ample opportunity for the candidates to expound on social, economic, and national security and foreign policy issues.

 In the final analysis, it's the political strategy and tactics in the battleground states that will largely determine the outcome. Strategists of both parties will have uppermost in their maneuvers the requirement to capture the majority of the coveted electoral votes.

All said, President Obama seems poised to return to the White House, barring the unforeseen. That result will be good for the US and the world.