Why trust a Republican?

I've been let down before.  I voted for George W. Bush, and there's still a lot of lingering disappointment (though I think his performance as president is underrated by many).  

There are no perfect politicians, and we shouldn't look for one.  Unlike many of President Obama's supporters, I am not looking for my president to be a hero, savior, or movie star.  I want someone with experience and intelligence who will govern based on conservative principles, live and model a life of character, communicate clearly, and lead.

I believe that Mitt Romney fits that bill quite nicely.  I'll leave the hagiography to others, but Governor Romney seems by all accounts to be an intelligent, highly accomplished, egalitarian leader with high moral character, the ability to communicate and make decisions, a conservative bent, and an exceptional understanding of American business in a time when American business desperately needs to be unleashed.

As I've said elsewhere, this election cannot be a final step.  There'll be much work to do and many hard days after November 6, but I think Mitt Romney is up to the task.

Concerning members of Congress and state and local officials, I urge you to do your own homework.  But our national politics is so polarized that control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is crucial to the success of a President Romney.  In light of this, I would have a hard time voting for any Democrat over any Republican this year -- barring some personal scandal or clear incompetence.  Of course, I'm sure there are exceptions.

I will make one point in rebuttal to President Obama.  The President has spent the past four years beating up President Bush for "getting us into this mess," and he now says that Mitt Romney wants to impose "the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place."  

But the President never names any particular policies.  They're just nameless, mess-causing policies, which the President promises to remedy  by bringing us to "shared prosperity."  But was the problem of the Great Recession a lack of "shared prosperity," as the President thinks?  Or was the problem instead a crisis and collapse in the housing and financial markets, as many others have thought?  And whose fault is that?  In my view, the President can't name a truly, objectively failed domestic policy from the Bush years, because the bad government we've experienced is the result of Democrats and/or combined Democrat-Republican misfeasance.

That said, I am not excusing the Republicans' behavior during their time in power.

Even so, if President Obama truly thinks the problem is a lack of shared prosperity, then he has failed by his own measure.  Indeed, during his time as president, the gap has widened between rich and poor.