I’m not addressing those of you who would vote for Obama regardless. I’m not talking to those of you who think Obama’s grown the economy, that he’s strong on national security, or that he’s been good for Israel. If you believe any of that, there is literally nothing you won’t believe about Obama as long as it’s wonderful.
You’re a partisan Democrat. We agree to disagree. We move on and talk about football and that’s that.
I’m addressing those of you who know Obama’s been an almost unmitigated disaster, and who are thinking of voting for Mitt Romney, but can’t quite bring yourself to do it. It’s that “R” after his name. I know. I’ve been there before. It’s hard to get over, when you’ve been told forever that Republicans are racist and greedy.
That’s exactly what the Obama campaign is counting on–that little bit of doubt, which they are busy stoking with all kinds of dire warnings about what Romney will do to women’s rights, equal pay for equal work, and–above all–abortion. And you’d never heard of people like Todd Akin before, but now that’s all you hear about.
(No one ever asks Democrats, by the way, whether they would put any limits on abortion–whether they would allow a baby–OK, fetus, if you prefer–to be aborted if it is about to be born. Did you know that Obama voted against a bill that would have saved babies who survived botched abortions? That’s a bit extreme, no?)
Here’s the deal on abortion. In the unlikely event that you or someone you love will actually want one, you will be able to get one even if Romney wins. And that’s because even if the pro-life movement got what it wanted–the reversal of Roe v. Wade–all that would do is allow states to decide the issue. And many states would probably keep abortion legal–just as over a dozen states had already made it legal before Roe. You might have to travel to one of those states to get an abortion, but you probably would not have to go far.
If you are willing to trade away the economic future of the country, compromise the strength of our armed forces, and risk the survival of Israel for the sake of keeping abortion legal–which it would be anyway, regardless of who wins–you really have to stop and ask yourself this urgent question: Are you serious?
Perhaps you’ve been swayed by Obama’s repeated claims about something called the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Did you know that it does not equalize pay for men and women? That was already in existing federal law. All Lily Ledbetter does is extend the statute of limitations for pay discrimination lawsuits–which may have the effect of discouraging employers from creating jobs. Have you heard about anyone actually filing a lawsuit under the act? No? That’s because hardly anyone has done so–it affects a very small number of women.
(And by the way, did you know Obama pays women less in his White House? That he did in the Senate, too?)
If you feel a sense of outrage about Romney’s “binders full of women” comment–and I can’t imagine you would, unless you are relying on the Obama campaign for information–keep in mind that Romney was talking about how he went out of his way to find female cabinet members, and used a collection of resumés to do so. That’s elementary human resources, and it’s how head-hunting works–for highly skilled workers everywhere.
President Obama asks for “trust” on women’s issues–but would you trust a man who lies, as Obama does, about those issues–saying Planned Parenthood provides mammograms when it does not? Telling Americans that Romney would cut all funds to Planned Parenthood when he only wants to cut federal funding–and not telling them Planned Parenthood performs abortions, which federal funds are not supposed to support?
I have to believe that you find the Obama campaign’s attempts to appeal to women insulting. The Obama campaign just released an ad in which it likened giving Obama your vote to giving Obama your virginity. Earlier this year, it released a cartoon called “The Life of Julia,” which described women as dependent on the government from cradle to grave. And Vice President Joe Biden has practically groped his way across the country, hitting women voters up with the kind of lines you hear about in sexual harassment lawsuits.
Romney and his running mate are family men–dependable, straight-laced, traditional, perhaps a bit square, but never the kind to show any form of disrespect. Romney supported his wife Ann throughout her struggles with breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. Isn’t that the kind of support that counts?
Frankly, if you’re willing to believe this “war on women” stuff the Obama people are hurling, if you’re willing to set aside all the other reasons motivating you to consider Romney for the sake of abortion, then you’re living down to the worst expectations of Democrat pollsters, who will take you for granted forever after.
If Obama wins this election somehow, and returns to govern his no-agenda second term, and you feel some sense of regret about it–as many Americans will–then you’ve lost your license to complain. At least to me.
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