Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Topic #5 - "The GOP nomination contest"

RESOLVED: Mitt Romney will be the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States.
PRO 1
Mitt Romney will be the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States because he will rebuild the foundations of the American economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work, and innovation. His plan will reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs. It will increase trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility. It relinquishes power to the states instead of claiming to have the solution to every problem.  Any American living through this economic crisis will immediately recognize the severity of the break that Mitt Romney proposes from our current course. He is calling for a fundamental change in Washington’s view of how economic growth and prosperity are achieved, how jobs are created, and how government can support these endeavors. Romney’s will get America back to work (1).  Also Romney has gained far more endorsements than any other candidates.  This includes endorsements from former president George W. Bush.  Mitt Romney has raised 63.7 million dollars towards his campaign while the rest of the candidates are significantly behind him.  The closest candidate to Romney is Ron Paul with 31.1 million dollars (4).

Romney will become the nominee by defeating his fellow Republican candidates.  There are really three key position issues that Mitt Romney's stance is far and away better than that of his rival, Newt Gingrich. The three issues are: China, the economy, and foreign policy.  In regards to China, Mitt Romney has adopted a less negative approach than Mr. Gingrich. For example, Mr. Gingrich has repeatedly stated beliefs that China suppresses dissent and abuses human rights. Although this is accurate, it is not wise to anger a nation that owns a total amount of 1.15 trillion dollars of U.S. debt (2).  On the other hand, Mitt Romney has adopted a stance that, although firm, leaves room for movement on both sides.  One of the biggest challenges that Mitt Romney faces with China is righting the trade imbalance that is currently very much in favor of China. By being tougher on China, Romney will make America's economy stronger.  On September 6, 2011, Mitt Romney became the second Republican candidate after Jon Huntsman to offer a fully detailed and fleshed-out economic plan.  This obviously sets him ahead of Newt Gingrich, whose own economic views have been muddled at best and unclear at worst.  His plan emphasizes critical structural adjustments rather than short-term fixes. He seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs. Furthermore, he seeks to increase trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility.  Mitt Romney has rolled out a fully fleshed-out foreign policy agenda. The policy plan outlined by Mitt Romney deals with one main issue which will strengthen the United States' position, as a military super power.(3)

Mitt Romney will be the Republican Party’s nominee and will be the candidate that can both defeat President Obama and get our amazing country back on track. (Michael M.)

Sources:
(2) Terence P. Jeffrey, CNS NEWS
(3) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-martin/why-mitt-romney-should-be_b_1177026.html
(4) http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance

PRO 2
Mitt is leading the delegate count right now and possesses a large portion of nationwide support that could carry him to the office. Romney currently leads all other candidates with 123 delegates, while Rick Santorum has 72 delegates; Newt Gingrich has 32, and Ron Paul has 19. Being leader brings about momentum in his elections. Delegate count will always have some type of advantage against the other candidates.

Newt kills Santorum’s chances of winning the 2012 presidential nomination. While many people suggest that Santorum has a real chance to win the nomination, Newt Gingrich stays in the race proving with facts that Santorum cannot win. By splitting the vote, Gingrich prevents Santorum from winning big numbers in the South. Gingrich has shown no desire to drop out and by the time he does step out, it will likely be too late for Santorum to make any sort of real comeback.

Romney has a financial advantage against other candidates. A candidate like Mitt Romney has more money, with more money; more ads can be aired, making the public more aware of his stances toward policy. Political advertisements function as a way to sway the opinions of large numbers of voters, and they are a main part of all campaigns. The “Daisy” attack ad from Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign, which led him to a landslide victory, proves how impact and influential these ads can be. Santorum is weak by the fact that he cannot backup his strong debate performances with political ads. He simply does not have the money and resources that Romney has making it extremely difficult to defeat him. (Josh T)

CON 1
Some believe that Senator Mitt Romney is the best Republican nominee for president. This blog will discuss the many points of why Romney is not best suited for this position. For one, he is a Mormon. Why is that such a big deal? It is because approximately 75% of Americans consider themselves Christians, and Mormons reject the belief in the Holy Trinity, one of Christianity’s central tenets. If religion is a small concern in the election process and presidency, President Obama would not have been picked on for leaving God out of his Thanksgiving prayers. Another major reason why Romney is not the most ideal nominee is because he concentrates a majority of his time on economic issues, rather than current events, such as the Planned Parenthood versus the Komen Foundation. Even though he makes correcting our economy one of his big points, the fact still remains that as he served as governor of Massachusetts, he raised taxes and government spending a significant amount. CBS News says, “Mitt Romney's Harvard MBA and gold-plated resume convinced many business leaders he would follow in the tradition of corporate-friendly Republicans when he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Within three years, some had a vastly different opinion, after Romney's efforts raised the tax bill on businesses by $300 million.” Lastly, his views lean too closely to the Democratic side of the spectrum and not enough strong values that Republicans look for in their candidates.  (Molly A.)

CON 2
We believe that Mitt Romney should NOT be the republican candidate for President as his previous experience as Massachusetts governor has demonstrated his lack of conservative republican beliefs.  For example, although Romney has stated he will repeal Obamacare, Obamacare was fashioned after a very similar plan passed by Romney in the state of Massachusetts that was designed to provide insurance for all Massachusetts residence by mid-2007.  This is not a very republican thing to do, this type of program is more of a democratic type program and we believe it will make Romney lose votes.  Another example is government spending, which vastly increased in Massachusetts during Romney’s period as governor.  State spending increased an estimated 24 percent over Romney’s final 3 years.  This generally means bigger government spending which is more of a democratic thing to do which would also lose him votes in the Republican race for candidacy.  Romney also raised taxes during his term as governor, including business taxes by an estimated 400 million dollars per year.  Massachusetts corporate tax climate now ranks 47 in the nation.  This also scares off Republican voters because of Romney’s tendencies to raise taxes which limit business growth and profits.  Voters may also turn their back on Romney because of his 15 percent effective tax rate on income of over 20 million. Although Romney pays all the tax that he legally owes, many working Americans are in a higher tax bracket even though they don’t make as much earnings as Romney.  These are a few of the main reasons why Mitt Romney should NOT be the republican candidate to run for President.  (Preston K.)

Sources:

7 comments:

Molly Aaron said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brookie H said...

At first, I did believe that Mitt Romney would win the Republican nomination and that he was the best candidate out of the four remaining Republican candidates. However, I do not believe this anymore. Mitt Romney has turned many voters against him due to the fact the he has changed his mind about several major issues. After reading the Con side above, I agree with Molly in the fact that Romney only talking about economic issues instead of current affairs has hurt his momentum to secure more victories in the early primaries. I also agree with the fact that Romney does believe in some Democratic issues, which isn’t what conservatives want to see in the nominee for the Republican Party. It has been seen through different polls that Romney has the best chance to beat President Obama due to his electability, but in the end Americans are going to want a President who is honest and who doesn’t flip-flop their views on several major issues. Right now out of the Republican candidates, Santorum is going strong and he won three state primaries a couple weeks ago. This has caused him to become more popular and almost catch up in the race for the Republican nominee. Because of his consistency with his beliefs, I am more for Santorum then I am for Romney at this point in the primary process.

Anonymous said...

I side with the con on this topic. I do not believe that Mitt Romney will be the Republican Party’s nominee for President of the United States. Mitt Romney looked like he would clearly be the winner due to his first couple of caucus and primary wins, which put him in the lead and made him a very well known candidate. However, many people fail to realize that the states in which the first caucuses and primaries were held in are on the middle to left spectrum of the Republican Party ideals. They are the views and issues Romney supports. Once he made his way to more conservative states such as South Carolina, he did not receive as much support and lost the states. Mitt Romney has lost much support due to him changing his mind about many issues, often previously supporting Democratic ideals. There is still a long way to go before the Republican Party’s nominee is chosen, and I believe Rick Santorum has a chance to surpass Romney and be the Republican Party’s nominee to face President Obama in the 2012 election. Santorum has recently been catching up with Romney and has become much better known.
-Christina B.

Nick izzard said...

I would agree with the con side of the argument, that Mitt Romney will in fact not be the GOP candidate. Romney has strong plans involving tax reformes, energy solutions, and government spending, but he take a moderate stand on these issues. Instead of siding with the strongly conservative views of the GOP, Romney is trying it find a middle ground. Though i think this is a very necessary stance to take, I do not think that this will allow him to win the nomination for the republican candidate. The GOP is looking for a candidate that stands strong with their radical views not a moderate ones. Due to his lack to comply with the views of the GOP, Romney will not be elected as the GOP candidate.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Romney will be the GOP candidate. First, he is currently the leader in the running for the Republican nominee. Romney has more money and support form Americans. His excess of money can provide him many more ads and campaign opportunities to sway the public view. Second, he is a moderate republican, therefore pulling some of the independent and swing voters. The swing voters can make or break the election for the candidates because they know who the solid voters are, but the swing votes are kind of neutral and can go either way. If Romney can get a lot of the swing voters with his moderate views, he could be the GOP nominee. Santorum will earn the conservative Republican votes, but no moderate or independent voters, which will not give him as many votes and Romney can obtain. Last, he focuses a lot of his time on new economic plans and ideas. A lot of the problems in the U. S. today are due to economic stress. Helping the economy get back on track will help many, many citizens. Those citizens want to see change and will vote for Romney to be the candidate.

Anonymous said...

I do not believe that Mitt Romney will win the GOP nomination for several reasons. First of all he is Mormon which is a very big deal because evangelical Christians make 75% of the population. Secondly, Mitt Romney has ZERO experience with the Federal system. Thirdly, Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed by the U.S. Congress. Mitt Romney says that he would repeal Obamacare, but the reality is that Romneycare was what Obamacare was based on. Lastly, Rick Santorum is slowly, but surly moving his way up the ranks. These are just a few of the reasons why I believe Mitt Romney will not be our Republican candidate.

Marcy said...

I am on the pro side that Romney will be the GOP candidate. First, from the primaries so far he is the leading candidate. Next, he has business experience, which will help for reshaping our economy. Lastly, he has lots of money. Like we learned today in class, money helps control the elections. Although it may not be fair, it puts Romney at an advantage. For these reasons, I believe Romney will be the GOP candidate.