On Tuesday Nov. 6 America will choose its next president. The choice is between incumbent President Barack Obama and Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
With only a few days until the election, the popular vote remains close 51-49 for Obama, according to the FiveThirtyEight blog by Nate Silver of the New York Times.
Obama has shown that he sticks by his opinions, continues to create policies that better America and is for helping all Americans.
Romney has changed his stance on a variety of issues. His five-point-plan lacks clarity and his time at Bain and the nature of his involvement in the 2009 tax amnesty program is questionable.
The Republican Party continues to oppose LGBT rights, pro-choice rights and has proved ignorant of issues such as rape and womenโs health.
The presidentโs centerpiece of the last four years has been the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; also know as โObama-Careโ. According to the fact-checking website, Politifact.com, pre-existing conditions are covered for all patients under this universal health care bill.
The bill does not demand that people switch or change their existing coverage, but allows the option to change.
Also according to Politifact.com, the bill expanded eligibility to young adults, who can stay on their parentsโ insurance until age 26.
Romney has been quoted by the New York Times saying that one of his first modes of action as president will be to โrepeal and replaceโ the Affordable Care Act.
He plans to replace it with his own health care plan.
During the first presidential debate Romney claimed that his health care plan would cover pre-existing conditions. However, according to TalkingPointMemo.com, shortly after the first debate.
Romneyโs top advisors admitted that the plan does not cover pre-existing conditions, nor does it guarantee that every citizen can qualify for insurance.
Obama supports equality for women and the LGBT community. As reported in the New York Times, the first bill that Obama signed after inauguration was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that gives women the ability to fight for equal pay in court.
According to the huffingtonpost.com, shortly after the second debate one of Romneyโs advisors said that he did not support the act.
However, that statement was withdrawn and the advisor clarified that Romney had given no comment or opinion at the time of the bill signing.
Obama also campaigned for equality in the LGBT community.
According to an official statement on whitehouse.gov, Obama extended insurance benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
This has been a particularly heated subject for same-sex couples who are not allowed to marry. In many cases only married couples could receive benefits from their partner.
The president also extended insurance benefits to include the rights of same-sex couples visitation rights and the right to make healthcare decisions with or for his or her perspective partners.
Another heated topic during Obamaโs first term was the repeal of โDonโt Ask, Donโt Tell.โ
Men and women in the U.S. armed forces hid their sexual orientation for fear of dishonorable discharge. With the repeal of โDonโt Ask, Donโt Tell,โ men and women now serve in the military without the fear of being judged for their sexuality.
Romney has proved again and again that he and his campaign change positions on various issues like health care, womenโsโ rights and equality rights.
Overall Obama has made policies to help our economy, reform student financial aid and increase Pell grant funds.
He brought down Osama bin Laden, doubled federal spending on clean energy research, kept BP responsible for the oil spill and successfully led negotiations with Russia to reduce their nuclear weapons by one third.
Most importantly, Obama he has kept true to his values on health care, equality and helping our economy.
This commitment to truth has built a more equal and successful. Obama is the better candidate and will be re-elected for another four years.
Danielle Montoya
Staff Writer
Published Oct. 31, 2012