Romney Takes "Strong" Stance

I have been blankly starring at my computer screen for 2 hours trying to decide whether or not I actually want to journey down this road and write about politics (particularly Republican politics). Blogging about politics is generally a lose-lose situation because no matter what you say, fact or fiction, people are going to lash out and people are going to get pissed. It's a fact of life that people (educated or not) will take a "never back down" stance in politics for what they believe is correct. So it is with much reluctance that I finally decided I am intrigued enough by this Romney statement to post about it. Let the debacle begin...

Republican primary front runner, Mitt Romney, sets his sights on
South Carolina after a decisive victory in the state of New Hampshire 

After winning the primaries in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Mitt Romney spoke some parting words as he plans to head down to South Carolina. Some of what he said was particularly interesting, but none more-so than this: "I will insist on a military so powerful no one will ever think of challenging it." Literally nothing could stereotype a Republican or us as Americans more than such a statement (sorry I'm not sorry conservatives), but the question remains--is Romney for real? Or just giving himself some fire-power against Ron Paul for the upcoming battle in South Carolina? 

Now that I've presented the questions, you can probably see where I am heading with this. I was massively critical of this remark at first thinking to myself, "really that's how you want to lead our foreign policy?" My inner college kid and satirical personality consumed my thoughts, "yeah, great statement Romney, if the rest of the world didn't hate us before, they will if you become President." Being an non-confrontational person and avid supporter of world peace (that's right, make love not war), this comment really bothered and even disgusted me. As my temper simmered though, and I continued to sit on this egg for a while, and it finally hatched for me. I pushed the grand scope out of the way and focused in on the small picture. I decided that whether or not Romney actually believes what he said (and Lord do I hope he doesn't), it was incredibly smart to make this comment heading into a state that places an extremely high priority on military service. 

This statement was even more valuable because second place man, Ron Paul, has different views on military service and issues. Paul's views aren't necessary something that South Carolina republicans will not favor, however; I just believe it was a nice (dare I say "subtle") move by Romney to gain a competitive edge heading down South (yes, I realize that's an innuendo). In this election people want to be inspired by something, and a strong statement towards a state that places a high precedence on military service is going to give Romney a significant advantage.  

I guess I must be overreacting because I didn't see anything on the morning news or CNN about this statement, but I thought it was an important point to talk about because I felt like it was really stereotypical. At this day and age, I really want to soak in everything I can about each candidate before I make a decision about who I want to be our next President. I feel like we are in an extremely critical point in our country's history, and making the correct choice in this election could be the difference between renewed prosperity or decades more of recession.

-John Jr.