Written By: Kirk Peterson
I was recently talking to a Dr. I work with about the election and the course of our country. We love to talk about politics and since we have opposing views on a number of issues we like to try and convince each other who is more right, ah the epic battle of words we have--good times! I'm reminded in our discussion, that so many people in our country have such a hard time discussing their various political views when someone doesn't agree with them....hmmmm, kind of like our political leaders? Just as congress needs to work together again, maybe we here on 'main street', could stand to take some of our own advice and be a little more open about things...
Character of a Man
Our country is at a crossroads. Paul Ryan said it best with, "I have not seen a time in our nation's history when the man and the moment meet so perfectly. Mitt Romney is the man to lead." I see the moment that Paul Ryan is speaking to as one of the greatest moments in America's history. Just look around at the tremendous challenges our country faces: the fragile U.S. ECONOMY that has only been smothered by Obama's big government agenda; the DEBT CRISIS that has seen more then 6 trillion dollars added & lead by Obama's negligent overspending; and very troubling CONCERNS ABROAD with unrest in the middle east, the uncertainty the Arab spring brings, Iran's nuclear aspirations and Europe's own even more challenging debt crisis.Given the gravity and weight of the moment, the man we choose to lead our country could not be more crucial. We must look to a man with strong moral excellence. Someone who has shown the characteristics of a man that is very similar to those described in God's word.
5In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. -2 Peter: 5-7 (New Living Translation)
A Telling Sign of a Man
Perhaps there is no better place to look for the character of each of the men running for president, then how they run their respective campaigns. Obama has run a campaign that is described by Paul Ryan as, "Attack and Blame". What a simple but very accurate way to describe the incumbent President's campaign. Let's take a moment and unpack this great statement made by Paul Ryan.
ATTACK
Barrack Obama's campaign has focused solely on attacking and destroying the character of Mitt Romney. Obama's camp has spent millions of dollars building up false accusations against Romney only to see the debates bring to light the heart of the man that Romney is. Remember, Bill Clinton (the Democrats biggest hitter in Obama's re-election campaign) himself, said that Mitt Romney would make a great president.
Obama told us in a speech back in 2008 that if you don't have an agenda to run on then all you can do is attack your opponent. I find it VERY troubling and quite a sign of his character that Obama would choose to run his campaign the very way he described back in 2008.
Interesting also, that Obama's campaign would accuse and attack Romney for not having specifics on his vision for the country. Obama has not shown anything about his vision for the country up until a little over a week ago when they released their 15 page plan. Which begs the question, whey wait so long to lay out your own vision for the country? I heard hints of the reason back in his speech to the DNC when he brought up green energy, roads & bridges and education. When my wife and I heard that in his speech, we looked at each other and laughed. It was the EXACT same thing Obama said back in 2008. If you feel that the presidents plan has brought a real recovery to the U.S. economy with: the poverty rate never having been so high; true unemployment closer to 15% as opposed to the mainly reported 7.8%; 50% of graduates of college not being able to find a job and the some 26 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed under his administration---then I suggest that you need to take ANOTHER LOOK! So, again to attack a person on not giving specifics when you yourself have done a far worse job of it yourself, I find both ironic and a strong sign of your character.
Perhaps Mitt Romney said it best in the last debate, "Attacking me, Mr. President, is not an agenda."
BLAME
Another strong sign of strong moral character is being accountable for your actions. In Barrack Obama, I believe we have a candidate that looks to blame things on others far to often.
Benghazi. Even if you give the President the benefit of the doubt and maybe they strategically needed to blame the attack on the video for fear of sparking more violence against the United States in the middle east; you can't take away the fact that the president should have taken responsibility for his administrations handling of the attack and brought the truth to light for the American people. Hearing the father of one of the fallen soldiers tell his story, you get a sense of the moral consequence our country made with our choices following the attack and the importance in finding out the truth of what happened there.
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts. Can't Lose!
At no better time did I see the strong moral character of Mitt Romney then during the last and final presidential debate. When I watched the debate, I saw a man who showed humility and looked like a strong presidential candidate. I felt Romney took the high road during the debate. Rather then getting pulled into the muck by Obama and his attacks, Romney choose to show the country and the world exactly what his vision for the United States of America would be and the path he would lead us on.
As a man of faith, I believe the best leader the world has ever seen is Jesus Christ--the son of God. Jesus, having absolute power could have done anything he wanted to do while he was here on earth and in doing so, could have been any kind of leader he wanted to be. Jesus choose to come as a humble servant and obediently followed God's plan in being the perfect sacrifice for all mankind. Even though we can never attain the perfect level of leadership that The Messiah showed us, we can hope to aspire to follow in his footsteps.
While both campaigns certainly have had there share of attacks, I believe the Romney campaign has shown strong character in laying out their vision for the country. Romney, like the great American president in Ronald Regan, has 5 core principles that he will use to help lead the U.S. toward prosperity again. Despite the Obama campaign's attacks to the contrary, the Romney/Ryan comeback team does offer some specifics on what they would do within these 5 key principles. In addition, using these 5 key principles as framework, both Romney & Ryan have said they want congress to debate the exact specifics by reaching across the isle and working together.
When people cry for exact specifics, I personally find it almost humerus to proclaim that ONE man can show exactly how our country can dig itself out of the great challenges of our day. I would argue that way of thinking speaks to leaders of dictatorships rather then leaders of government elected by the people for the people. I believe that a great republic should debate these challenges in the halls of congress--having all sides come together and compromise to find the best solution. Isn't that what our founding fathers dreamed about and created for us in founding our great nation?See Mitt Romney's Plan here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFQAZYZrjVU
Read Mitt Romney's Plan here: http://www.mittromney.com/JobsPlan
In 5 days our country will elect our next president. I hope and pray given the weight and gravity of the moment, that we take to heart what Paul Ryan said.
"I have not seen a time in our nation's history when the man and the moment meet so perfectly. Mitt Romney is the man to lead." -Paul Ryan
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