As the US election for president draws closer, dirtier the debates become. This does not only extend to President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but to the voters themselves. Since this election is so important to the United States, people who have not previously paid much attention to politics–myself included–have been roped into the huge battle for control. The battle has now been dragged into cyberspace.

Facebook has exploded with status and picture updates about the election and who individuals support, which creates tension among friends who are supporting different candidates. I know some of my friends are hardly talking to one another strictly because of fights they have had about politics.

My family and I have an agreement to not discuss politics because we support opposing candidates, and the fights would always turn ugly when the subject came up. However, the rest of the country is letting everyone know their position for the election; political conventions and rallies are happening left and right because everyone wants to get support for their candidate. In other elections, people were not as passionate about who they planned on voting for.

Sure, the election campaigns were aired on TV and everyone was subjected to the annoying phone calls sponsoring a candidate, but friends and families were not torn apart because of politics. Meanwhile, both candidates are trying to make themselves look as saintly as possible while simultaneously trying to make their opponent seem like the anti-Christ. The presidential debates have been the most public display of this goal. The debates have caused a huge stir with voters with trying to determine who “won” the debate.

Romney had better stage presence while Obama looked like he did not want to be there. Obama kept trying to play off of Bill Clinton and emphasizing how horrible George W. Bush was while not taking ownership of any of his own shortcomings. During Obama’s reign, the country’s deficit tripled and he added more debt than any other president combined.  But none of this is his fault, only Bush’s. Obama kept twisting Romney’s plan for taxes, which Romney defended and said that Obama was purposely misleading the public.

Romney continually challenged Obama, who never really defended himself fully. Since the debates, others have tried to make excuses as to why Obama did not seem to be present and involved. However, all the debates have done is created more of a gray area while the public decides which candidate is the biggest liar.

With the debates over, political commercials are always on TV. It has gotten to the point that I refuse to watch any TV until after the election craziness is over. Neither candidate is perfect, and it gets to be very depressing watching Romney have commercials saying how horrible President Obama is while Obama projects the opposite sentiment.

The election is a month away, and it is sure to get much worse before the ballots are collected and tallied. November is guaranteed to be a political bloodbath.   Image Courtesy of   new-york-city

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President Barack Obama, in his recent State of the Union speech, presented policy, foresight, and spirit. The State of the Union is the annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress, which outlines policy-prescription, agenda, and more importantly, conditions of the state. According to article two, section three of the Constitution, the president shall address Congress from time to time and recommend to their consideration measures that he feels necessary.

The State of the Union is one of the most keenly watched political events in the U.S. Even though the Constitution never explicitly announced the regularity of its presentation, it is delivered on an annual basis. This was the third time President Obama gave the State of the Union address.

This time, the state of the economy, and the disequilibrium within, were the main highlights of the speech, wherein tax reforms, education, energy, unemployment, tax-breaks, and foreign policy issues were pitched.

Nonetheless, the solution to these issues remain daunting since the rate of employment is less than attractive and nowhere near what was envisaged when Obama took office. President Obama said that in the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. But a recap of the statistics supporting the facts shows that the President was off the numbers when he spoke. 

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, 2.056 million jobs have been added in the economy over 21 months during his presidency. Ultimately, the White House stated that Obama was referring to private sector jobs, not government jobs but whichever the connection, the overall truth is that the American economy is not out of the woods yet.

In his catalog of policy prescriptions, the president was cautious over the state of Americans, as widening gaps between rich and poor has entered the mainstream politics and could hold a strong baring in the outcome of the presidential elections this year. Growing income inequality and job insecurity will be the key elements that need to be addressed in order to win office and the Democrats are currently relying on the Buffet Rule, a plan which would tax millionaires at a minimum of 30 percent.

The real escape lies in and around the net of tax reforms since multiple factors are responsible for this ill distribution. More importantly, in recent years, shrinking incomes and declining employment at a massive scale are at the helm of economic inequality.

President Obama praised the American armed forces for their courage and selflessness that led to the elimination of the world’s most perilous threat hiding in Pakistan in early 2011. This is second in line of the remarkable achievements under President Obama, following efforts to stabilize the economy.

Both of these issues show initial hope and optimism. However, with regards to economy, the trend of optimism appears to be fading. However, in the heat of the presidential race, it will in the end be a trial and error game that depends on the American voter’s ability to swallow the proposed solutions.

Republicans accused Obama of promoting class warfare and wealth-envy in his address. According to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, “No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us.” Indeed, it looks to be a tough battle ahead for administrative supremacy between democrats and republicans.

Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com

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According to the bureau of Labor statistics, the American economy added a shocking “zero” number of jobs in the month of August. This makes it the worst monthly job report this year, fueling doubts about economic recovery and increasing the pressure on President Obama.

Despite a big effort by the Obama administration to design a simulative fiscal policy in the recent past, the overall picture is still very negative. The greatest impact of this may be the Democrats’ ability to contest elections in 2012; in effect, the presidential approval index fell to the lowest of its time in office.

In August people who strongly approved of Obama’s performance fell 3 percent from 24 percent to 21 percent. On the other hand the number of people who strongly disapprove of the President’s performance rose to 42 percent from 38 percent.

Variations in this index show to what degree voters are satisfied with the performance of the President; if there is a rise in approval rating it shows that people’s concerns are being taken care of, or they feel happy. Likewise, if there is a fall in this index then voters are unhappy with the President.

The essential idea is that the President is in the midst of an uncertain economy and the political crisis will have major bearing on his hopes for a return to the White House in 2012. Everything depends on what the President has in store this time, but it will be far less ambitious than the $825 billion stimulus package of 2009.

Economists in the U.S. who advocated for government intervention call for a package of at least $300 billion to avoid backsliding of the economy. Overall unemployment rates are steady at 9.1 percent; anything less than 100,000 jobs a month would be catastrophic for the democratic campaign in 2012.

Economists estimated that the economy needs 150,000 jobs per month in order to keep pace with the growth rate of the population. But to reduce unemployment to below 8 percent, the economy needs to create more than 275,000 jobs in one month.

Initially President Obama had agreed to deliver the speech on his new job proposal on September 7, but incidentally (or intentionally) the Republican Party chose the same date to hold a televised debate. Just like with the debt deal, this incident became a platform for conflict between democrats and republicans, but the White House said it was just a matter of coincidence.

The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, asked Obama to rescheduled his speech on September 8 and the White House agreed. This shows the basic idea that even in dire economic condition and undeniable uncertainty over the future of U.S economy, Republicans are enjoying their play in politics.

But all in all, the campaigning for 2012 is firing up. From the President to the presidential candidates — everyone is preparing to roll out thier agendas in order to cement their chances. They are very much concerned with what voters are concerned with, and of utmost importantly: Jobs, jobs, and jobs.

The political environment in the U.S. is driven by the unemployment agenda because ultimately it will determine the destiny of the front-runners for 2012. Everything depends on how well they sail the American citizens out of this mess.

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