{"id":1391,"date":"2012-11-01T19:15:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T23:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dantranscon.com\/the-divided-states-of-america-a-canadian-perspective-on-the-us-election\/"},"modified":"2012-11-01T19:15:27","modified_gmt":"2012-11-01T23:15:27","slug":"the-divided-states-of-america-a-canadian-perspective-on-the-us-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dantranscon.com\/the-divided-states-of-america-a-canadian-perspective-on-the-us-election\/","title":{"rendered":"The Divided States of America \u2013 a Canadian Perspective on the U.S. Election"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mercifully, the U.S. election is in its final days.\u00a0 As a Canadian with friends, family, colleagues and clients in the United States, it has been distressing to watch the talk shows, debates and the steady bombardment of election ads on television.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is no doubt that Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama are two very intelligent, gifted people.\u00a0 Their respective parties each have a vague plan to restore America to its rightful place as the leader of the free world.\u00a0 Regrettably, neither party has provided a detailed substantive roadmap on how they would reduce the deficit and put Americans back to work.\u00a0 The reasons for this are simple.\u00a0 Every policy statement offered by one party would be parsed and ripped apart by the other party.\u00a0 There is safety in being vague.\u00a0 Even worse, the Republican plan, if you can really call it a plan, would likely increase the size of the U.S. deficit and be of most benefit to affluent Americans, those who are least in need of more financial perks.<\/p>\n<p>Also troubling is the fact that the party leaders and pundits cannot acknowledge any value in their opponent\u2019s program.\u00a0 Each party demonizes the other with misstatements, half-truths and exaggerations that make the level of political discourse very negative and unpleasant.\u00a0 America is very a polarized and divided country.\u00a0 Almost every poll shows the two leaders in a virtual dead heat.\u00a0 Millions of dollars are being spent in a handful of \u201cswing\u201d states and in a select group of counties where a small number of so-called undecided voters control the fate of the election.\u00a0 After four and a half hours of debates, hundreds of hours of chatter on television and radio and millions of words in the social media, is there anyone truly \u201cundecided\u201d at this late stage?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The election appears to be based on two polarized versions of the past four years.\u00a0 If one believes that President Obama was faced with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and that he did everything possible to stimulate jobs, protect U.S. autoworkers, provide universal health care and keep America safe, you will vote for the President.\u00a0 If you buy into the scenario that President Obama and the Democrats could have done a better job of stewarding the economy during this period, that employment would have been higher and gas prices lower under a Republican administration, that the social policies proposed by the Democrats are too radical, that universal health care is too rich for America and that it is time for a change, you will vote Republican.\u00a0 The few undecided voters ultimately have to accept one of these distorted views of reality.\u00a0 Neither one of these scenarios is an accurate reflection of the current state of America.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately or unfortunately, I live in Canada and have to deal with our own very troubled political realities.\u00a0 Sadly, we lost one of our best political leaders to illness and lost one of our major political parties to a series of inept leaders and policies.\u00a0 The son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a young and inexperienced man, may end up becoming its leader and face the very difficult task of resurrecting the fortunes of the Liberal party against a very crafty Stephen Harper, Canada\u2019s current Prime Minister – – \u00a0a very tall order.\u00a0 \u00a0We have our own problems in Canada.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But looking south, I see the election this way.\u00a0 President Obama is a very hard-working, dedicated family man who understands much better than Governor Romney, the plight of middle class Americans.\u00a0 If he remains President, he and his party will likely reap the rewards of the low interest rate, stimulus initiatives that have been in place the past few years.\u00a0 He is focusing on the right things \u2013 education, affordable health care, the middle class and addressing the fiscal cliff through a combination of cost reductions and tax increases for those most able to pay more.\u00a0 This plan makes sense to me, more sense than the tax reduction, no revenue increase, cancel Obamacare policies of the Republicans.\u00a0 I believe his policies will be better for the economies of the United States and Canada.\u00a0 I also believe that his policies will be better for the transportation industry that is of most concern to me and my clients.<\/p>\n<p>I endorse President Obama for re-election.\u00a0 I hope many Americans will weigh their options and make the right choice on Nov. 6.\u00a0 Good Luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mercifully, the U.S. election is in its final days.\u00a0 As a Canadian with friends, family, colleagues and clients in the United States, it has been distressing to watch the talk shows, debates and the steady bombardment of election ads on television.\u00a0 There is no doubt that Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama are two very intelligent, 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