Two pre-election op-ed pieces that reflect my thinking on this subject quite clearly, both better phrased than I can do myself.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/barack-obama-is-a-great-president-yes-great.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/case-against-romney.html
I voted for Barack Obama in 2008 because a review of where the Republican ideology was taking us told me that in that direction lies the destruction of the United States of America as I knew it. I voted for him again this year because what he has accomplished, despite huge and intransigent obstruction on the radical right, is what I was hoping to see.
I don't believe Barack Obama or his administration to be without flaws. They have made, and will continue to make, mistakes. But the mistakes they've made are so far less egregious than the mistakes of the previous administration that I believe they deserve not only the opportunity for a second four year term to realize their goals, but that they also deserve a
FAR fuller environment of cooperation and a willingness to negotiate and compromise from the obstinate radical right, who will destroy this nation if they continue on their current ideological path.
For the good of the people, for the good of the nation, this Republican Congress should redress it's obstructionist ways and do their jobs. Which is not to demand and demand their way and nothing else, but to come up with sensible, useful governance, cooperating with the rest of the representative body, to support the whole nation.
I'm not a partisan voter: I've voted for Democrat, Republican, and Independent candidates and proposals many times in my life. At present, however, I cannot vote for the Republicans as I find their ideology bankrupt and the results of their past governance destructive in the extreme.
I am relieved to see that a good man who is acting based upon a sound plan, with both reason and a willingness to negotiate and compromise, is still our president. Someone who honors the concept of Reasoned Discourse upon which our nation's laws are founded. And I am patient to suffer through the long, hard work that lies ahead to realize the goals of change and progress, despite the adamant obstinacy of the opposing party.
And that ends my contribution to this political discussion.