If youâre like me, you enter every single election a blank slate. I just never know which name Iâm going to check the box next to in November until I carefully weigh each candidate by their statements, their values, and their integrity. As some very prominent Seattle thought leaders know, voting along party lines is a non-starter.
With that in mind: How about Governor Romneyâs performance in the debate last night? As you know, I havenât made any formal declarations of support for Governor Romney. Thatâs because I was waiting for the debates to make up my mind as to which candidate I was getting behind. And I havenât decided yet (there are three more debates, remember) but I have to tell you, I liked what I saw in Governor Romney. He was forceful, funny, lively, and enthusiastic. Take a look at this video of him telling Jim Lehrer how to run the debate:
Now, thatâs a man who knows how to lead!
All right, by his own campaignâs admission, some of Romneyâs statements werenât exactly, well, true. Okay, more than âsomeâ of his statements werenât strictly true. Letâs say, âseveral.â All right, âmany.â But there was only one presidential-looking person on stage last night, and that definitely wasnât the president.
This is notârepeat, NOTâan endorsement, but I very much liked what Romney had to say about education, about loosening the constrictive reigns on business, about returning to a pre-Obamacare health care system that merely needed a few tweaks to maintain its position as best in the world. President Obama seemed more interested in landing a couple of zingers than making a substantive case for another four years in office. (Maybe the lack of teleprompters on the stage had something to do with this?) I havenât made any decisions yet, but Governor Romney sure did make a compelling case for himself last night. Iâll be keeping a close eye on him during the next two debates to see if he keeps it up.