Debates in the US Presidential Elections 2012 - Essay Example

15th November The U.S Presidential Elections Part 2 – Debates In the vice presidential debate, Biden absolutely conquered all aspects of the debate he dealt well with matters of foreign policy, the public debt, taxes, and also social issues like abortion with great finesse. He confidently presented Obama’s policy statement and his strong holds, Obama’s administration's policy decision rationale, and strongly defensive his party’s stances on the issues. Republican candidate Paul Ryan looked at loss of words and less confident as compared to Biden (Miles). 4) Biden gave both opening and closing statements, Ryan was defensive, and it was a one sided victory by Biden. 3)The feisty Republican candidate relentlessly criticized and thrashed the opponent Democratic ways, policies and leadership style i.e. Obama care, Libya, economy etc (Espo, and Daly). But on matters such as Taxes, Foreign Policy, American values, he gave baffled answers. The first question out of three that were more prominent was: Biden was anti-war like Obama and said clearly that the last thing that America needed was another war, while Ryan, like Romney said they would continue to increase troops and forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they do foresee a war in the making with Iran due to Iran-U.S clashes. 2) Secondly, Ryan defended well, the fiery questions from Biden, about his Taxes plans and Federal Policy facts 3) Ryan was not able to retain his composure upon questions regarding Foreign policy matters especially the Middle East situation, and National security matters such as combating terrorism (Miles). Ryan had the edge over Biden from the start by 42% to 25% margin (Espo, and Daly). But due to his young age and lack of experience and political insight, he failed to get a strong grip of the debate and ended up being wonky and puzzled about questions regarding their tax related policies and foreign policy predictions. I am personally in favor of Biden’s take on all over the debate issues, as he tackled the situations with a lot of reason and logic, and without exaggeration he had facts and figures to support his arguments, and his age, experience and Political know how helped him immensely, to get the audiences’ attention. 4)Although, it is hard to decide which candidate won the debate, as both had their strong and weak moments, but Biden had a clear, easily sensed edge over his rival Ryan. Ryan sounded wonky, less expressive, less concrete and lacking in political rationale. Part 4) 4)2012 results VOTES % WON Barack Obama 62,611,250 50.6% Mitt Romney 59,134,475 47.8 Others 1,968,682 1.6 (Andrews et al ). SOURCE: AP. Map Barack Obama won the United States Election 2012 by leading from the front, either of the candidates, Barack H. Obama, and Mitt Romney, had to secure 270 seats to achieve the highly anticipated victory. Barack Obama won with 332 Electoral Votes, while Mitt Romney ended up with 206 Votes (Andrews et al ). The Map Analysis prior to the close Electoral Campaign shows that President Obama carries a momentous, edge over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the battle for 270 electoral votes this fall, according to the first detailed analysis of the map conducted by the Fix ( Chris , and Aaron Blake ) Obama starts the general election with 15 states (plus the District of Columbia) and 196 electoral votes strengthen him while Romney begins with 21 states and 170 electoral votes firmly in his corner. (One of the states sturdily for Romney is Indiana, where Obama won in 2008 but no one expects a repeat performance in 2012). Another three states — Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Michigan (16) and New Mexico (5) — incline toward Obama while Arizona (11) and Missouri (10) lean toward Romney. Adding them up lends Obama 237 electoral votes and Romney 191 electoral votes. (Chris, and Aaron Blake) The SWING States: While Obama was a much likely candidate than Romney, victory will be decided by the nine swing states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia — which are the real toss ups and comprise 110 decisive electoral votes and Obama won because he gained majority of the seats of these swing states, the victory was a clear, clean sweep by Obama in these swing states (Chris, and Aaron Blake). Each Swing State Win: Colorado=Obama, Florida=Obama, Iowa=Obama, Nevada=Obama, New Hampshire=Obama, North Carolina=Romney, Ohio, Wisconsin=Obama and Virginia=Obama. Other Significant Factors Affecting the U.S Elections 2012: Other factors that were critical to the results of the Presidential race were the Swing states, ethnicity, Race, affect of the debates made by candidates’ income and unemployment and solid, fix strongholds also had a profound impact on the outcome, Obama proved to be a strong figure head, he inherited two wars, but the way he handled war on terrorism is praiseworthy. Currently the way he handled the storm was also a strong plus point for him, and increased his favorability ratio. (Andrews et al ) Part5) If I could vote, I would have voted for Mitt Romney, for that would be what I call “Real Change” as that was the slogan the two candidates were vying for. Obama opposed invasion in Iraq from the beginning, and killing of Osama Bin Laden was also off the credit for Obama. Romney was always pro U.S democratic alliance in Iraq, and his policy to tighten sanctions on Iran as well as his economic policy made him a popular choice. Although he was dubbed as a rich-people’s President, yet he talked about a common man’s problems and dilemmas, especially about providing more jobs to the unemployed ( Pace)., and fight against terrorism. Obama was a tested choice, whilst Romney’s claims were yet to be tested. Romney seemed more humane and down to earth, as compared to Obama who was stern and straight forward. Romney’s stance on global warming and environmental concerns were more concrete than Obama’s, I believe in this era of alarming pollution, we need a president who is more, environmentally aware and concerned with issues that not only have a National impact, but a Global affect upon our world. Global issues that Romney seemed more keen towards such as: Research and development and new car technology, which I find quite impressive and futuristic and that’s what I want in an American President, along with his eloquence and confidence, this explains my choice of Romney as President. The Elections Turned out the way they did because: People switched loyalties this time, with more African American voters voting for the white candidate Mitt Romney than they did in 2008. It is because people expected more of Obama than what he delivered in his four years time. This time around people voted for him but with more reservations, and less enthusiasm as compared to back in 2008. The unemployment rate increased during Obama’s time and this was the reason that Obama’s victory margin was lesser than it was in 2008. People wanted real change, but Obama’s first tenure was less than perfect, plus the twice elected African American President Challenge, was also a cause of this nail biting contest. In the end, it all came down to a Democratic President or a Republican one, more than the individual personalities. People opted for the already tested, and more matured President, and gave President Obama a second chance. Works Cited Chris , Cillizza, and Aaron Blake. "President Obama starts with edge on inaugural Fix Electoral College map."Washington Post [Washington D.C] 17 05 2012, ET n. pag. Print.  Wilson Andrews, Bartz Jason , Serdar Tumgoren. "2012 Presidential Election Results.." Washington Post [Washington D.C] 15 11 2012, early edition n. pag. Print. . Pace, Julie . "Obama, Romney clash on economy in first debate." www.deseretnews.com. Associated Press, 03 2012. Web. 19 Nov 2012.  Espo, David , and Kasie Hunt. "Romney, Obama veer back to economy in foreign-policy debate."www.deseretnews.com. Associated Press, 22 2012. Web. 19 Nov 2012. . Miles, Chris. "Who Won the VP Debate Tonight: Joe Biden Completely Dismantles Republican Paul Ryan Refresh Now ." www.policymic.com. PolicyMic, 13 2012. Web. 20 Nov 2012. . Espo, David , and Matthew Daly. "Vice Presidential Debate: Joe Biden, Paul Ryan Clash In Kentucky." http://www.huffingtonpost.com. Associated Press, 10 2012. Web. 20 Nov 2012. . Read More