Gloves Come Off for Obama and Romney

Within some two months, the U.S. presidential race between Democrat Obama and Republican Romney has evolved into a very public airing of dirty laundry.

Obama jokes about Romney and that ups the ante. Romney’s latest accusation is that Obama is dividing the country. He has described the government as intrusive and attacked current policies that seek, in his opinion, to expand the role of the federal government and increase regulatory controls, stating that “the role of federal regulations is to stimulate, not terminate small and medium-sized businesses.”*

President Barack Obama blamed his rival for wanting to impose more taxes on supporters of wind energy. One of Obama’s supporters criticized the Republican plan to reform medical insurance for retirees, reducing social programs and lowering taxes for the wealthiest.

Yet another controversy is the tired issue of whether Obama was born in the United States. Speaking to a crowd of some 7,000 people, Romney stated that “no one has ever asked to see my birth certificate.”

Nothing has changed. According to José Martí [a famous Cuban writer] who lived in the U.S. between 1880 and 1895, “A United States presidential campaign is a study in harshness and sickening [behavior] … Politicians, poised to throw in their lot wherever it is likely to benefit them most, do not seek in a presidential candidate that illustrious man, whose virtue is above par, or whose talents can bring good to the country, but rather the one who by his wiles, fortune, or special conditions can, albeit dubiously, assure the most votes to the party and the most influence in the administration to those who contributed to [his] nomination and victory.”

Or as Fidel would say, a competition between ignorance and stupidity.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.