Memo To The President

Mr. President:

I do not want to rain on your parade but I think it is important to remind you what goes up comes back down. You are bound to receive a boost in the polls in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden; however, remember 41 and 43.

George Herbert Walker Bush, aka 41, became the most popular president ever after the success of Desert Storm. His approval ratings topped 90 percent and his re election seemed assured. Then he made the mistake of going back on his promise, "No new taxes," and he found himself having to fend off both Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. Facing the choice of a mud slinging campaign or just going through the motions, Bush took the high ground and lost.

Not to be out done by his father, George W. Bush, aka 43, was also the recipient of a tremendous poll boost following the defeat of Iraq and the fall of Saadam Hussein. However, after the military stalled and questions were raised over the issue of weapons of mass destruction and 43's handling of the economy, it took all of Bush's political weaponry to win a close re election over John Kerry.

November 2012 is a long ways away for the attention deficit voting public. Bin Laden's demise will have been long replaced by months of coverage on the state of the economy, on-going wars abroad, and who knows what else. If you are counting on riding the current wave of success to re election next year, you could be making a huge mistake.

Republicans now have a year and a half to reshape the war issue to their favor. They can focus their argument on how you handle our military involvement and its cost after Bin Laden is long gone and blame our continuing involvement on you. You will be held accountable for the state of our economy and will not be able to blame it on the republicans while also being called into question on your stance on health care, gay marriage, and other wedge issues.

If you want to be assured of re election, you will need more political victories down the road, both at home and abroad, or an impatient and memory lacking voting public will choose to go in another direction.

Why I Will Vote For Obama In 2012

President Obama will get my vote in the 2012 election. I do not care who the Republicans throw at him, he has proven himself as far as I am concerned. His patience and precision are what we need, not just from our President, but as an example to how to lead our own lives.

President Obama received word of Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts last August and yet he waited until May to take him out. He surely could have used a boost last fall with the elections not looking good for him and his party. A successful mission in September would have made democrats look like the party that can get things done and might have been enough to keep the senate under their control. I think, had George W. Bush been in the same position, he would have done everything he could to take out Bin Laden before the election.

President Obama will get my vote because he clearly showed he could put the best interest of the democratic party and his own political needs on hold to make sure the job was done right. He was not going to make the mistake Jimmy Carter made when he hastily put together a rescue mission for the American hostages in Iran only to see it turn into such a major blunder he was never able to recover politically from it.

Obama showed that a few months of patience yields much greater results than the too quick to take credit approach of his predecessor; remember Bush on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier declaring victory to a war still being fought? He made sure the military had all of the necessary intelligence and time to train for a mission that if it failed would probably cost him his reelection, not to mention the lives of several military personnel. In his announcement to the American public, he did not gloat or boast but rather delivered the message all of us have waited nearly ten years to hear in a business like manner that reminded us the war against terror is not over. He made certain Bin Laden’s body was handled according to Islamic custom rather than fanning the flames by televising soldiers or locals desecrating it in celebration.

In a day and age dominated by reality television and self promotion, it is refreshing to have a leader who seems determined to set an example to us that we can accomplish great things without boasting or demeaning in the process. It is for these reasons and not his politics I will cast my vote for President Obama in 2012.