Domestic policy overview and analysis

Presidential Debate

Domestic Policy Presidential Debate 2012

The two presidential candidates, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, held a debate regarding domestic policy issues in Denver, CO. The main focus of the debate was the state of the United States economy, but other issues were discussed as well. Of course, the economy was the most prevalent because most of the other issues related to it in some way. This paper will look at the debate from a personal perspective and examine not only the topics, but how the moderator did and whether the candidates should have examined other topics.

The debate opened with the President committing to a talking point related to the economy that discussed taxation policy and its relation to providing robustness. The basic difference between Republicans, whose base holds to a conservative economic stance, and the Democrats, whose base promotes a Keynesian stance, is where revenue should come from and how to use that capital. The Keynesian theory states that it is the job of the federal government to influence the economy and to help it grow. This is done through strict regulation of markets, taxation, and money provided by the government to increase jobs in certain sectors. The President argued in this debate that his policies had been successful, but that it takes a long time to recover from the devastation caused by years of poorly imagined policies (basically the blame Bush for the problem strategy). Governor Romney countered consistently that the private sector controls the economy and it is the job of the government to assist the private sector, not contain it. Romney said he would do this by providing tax breaks along with closing tax loop holes, increasing trade with partners in Latin America, and promote small business rather than taxing them more heavily. The Republican stance, following classical economic (some call them trickle-down, or supply-side) theories, is to promote the free market economy rather than limiting it.

Another issue that has been prominent in the campaign and was a feature in the debates is that of health care. The current Democrat belief is that healthcare is unfair for many Americans and the government needs to protect all of its people by reining in health insurance providers and making them cover every single person. The problem Romney had with the present legislation was that it punishes many people, he repeated the line that people would see a $2,500 yearly increase in premiums if the plan was allowed to be implemented, rather than provide the help it is supposed to. Romney also mentioned that health care boards would be deciding the fate of patients rather than the individual and their doctor. President Obama countered this by saying that the board was not able to act in specific cases but set general policy. He also disagreed with Governor Romney's claim that there would be a yearly increase in premiums.

As far as the two issues presented, I agree with Romney's stance on the economy and am undecided with regard to any healthcare plan. It has been proven historically that the less the government messes with private enterprise and the economy the better. I also believe it would be better to leave our healthcare system alone as it is now formulated. So on that, I disagree somewhat with both candidates.

The moderator for the debate was PBS News Hour commentator Jim Lehrer. In my opinion he did a great job. He allowed the candidates to speak rather than trying to keep them to a hard line time frame. He did try to steer the debate, but he often allowed the two to talk even when they were over their allotted time.

The clear winner of the debate, as shown by polling and commenters with affiliations from both "sides of the aisle," was Mitt Romney. The President's demeanor was interesting. Rather than remain engaged and take Romney to task for missteps he had made on the campaign trail, he seemed distant and complacent much of the time. Many of the commentators believed that he was unprepared for Romney to be so assured and assertive. Romney knew his talking points, seemed to have a confidence that the President did not have, and continuously looked at the President while he was speaking. It was easy to see by the President's body language that he did not want to be debating, whereas Romney was just the opposite.