Thankfully the Democratic National Convention is over and there will be no more television images of women wailing at the sound of Barack Obama’s voice. Many convention delegates seemed to be in a trance while listening to the President's speech.
His speech will not resonate with the American people who are clearly suffering. The new jobs report paints a horrific picture of our economy. While the unemployment rate fell to 8.1% and 96,000 new jobs were added, there were 368,000 people who left the workforce entirely, the highest total in recent years. Today, there are almost 89 million Americans who are not working and either surviving on government assistance or their personal savings.
Since the President took office, almost every economic indicator has moved in the wrong direction. The most worrisome figure is the national debt, which is now $5.4 trillion higher at $16 trillion. The unemployment rate is higher, gasoline prices have more than doubled, and the number of food stamp recipients has increased by 16 million. It is clear to almost everyone except the most partisan Democrats that America is not “better off” than four years ago.
Today, in America, the labor participation rate is at its lowest since 1981, with 43 straight months of unemployment over 8 percent, even though the Obama administration projected significant job growth because of the trillion dollar stimulus package. Only belatedly did the President admit that the shovel-ready jobs were not “as shovel-ready as we expected.”
Despite the reality of an economy in a free fall, the Democrats in Charlotte were enthralled by Obama. There is a massive disconnect between the America described in Obama’s speech and the actual country that is suffering because of his policies.
In his speech, the President continued to use faulty logic, straw man arguments and outright misrepresentations to make his case to the American people. Sadly, for the President, other than his core supporters, the magic is gone. For example, the Democrats could not fill the outdoor stadium in Charlotte and had to move the President’s speech inside.
Inside the arena were rabid Obama supporters who wildly applauded his every word. This same group of Democratic fanatics did not show the same enthusiasm for God. The one lasting image of the convention will be the delegates booing the inclusion of God in the platform. It is amazing that the Democrats initially removed God from the platform, but it was even more amazing that when they tried to reinsert God, there was a loud roar of disapproval.
This is not a political party that represents the values of most Americans or realizes the struggles of middle class families. While booing God, the Democratic delegates cheered abortion and gay marriage. Some embraced racism by sporting buttons that read, “Once you vote black, you never go back.”
One delegate went even further and threatened violence. A hysterical New York delegate, Julia Rodriguez, said Mitt Romney would “destroy this country” if elected president. She also threatened his life when she boasted to a reporter “If I see him (Romney), I would like to kill him.” Hopefully, the Secret Service is questioning Ms Rodriguez and any other convention delegates who may wish to harm Romney.
While Ms. Rodriguez and other partisans may have been overjoyed by the President’s remarks, the American people probably wondered why he did not specifically address their problems. Overall, he gave the American people no reason to believe that a second term will be any better than his first four years.
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Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m.weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at [email protected].
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