Election 2012: Should Americans Reward a Political Party that Nearly Destroyed the Economy and Then Did Everything It Could to Sabotage Its Recovery?

As the storm rages through the Eastern United States, we can interrupt our political passions and step back for a moment and get a big picture view of the 2012 national election. We know about all of the disagreements between President Obama and Governor Romney and between the Democrat and Republican candidates in general:

• Targeted tax cuts vs additional tax cuts for everyone including the top 5%

• Should we be looking to fight a new war in the Middle East or should we place stricter criteria on when we engage in war?

• Are the health care protections achieved in the Affordable Care Act worth preserving?

• Who should serve on the Supreme Court?

• Whether climate change is real and should be addressed

• The extent of women’s reproductive rights

• The extent of gay rights

These are all important issues and the dividing lines are clear.  But Americans need to ask one more question of themselves before they cast their vote:

Should Americans lend their support to the party that nearly destroyed the economy by 2008, and then, when they lost power, proceeded to obstruct every initiative of the new president whose job it was to repair the economy? 

What message would that send to political parties in the future if they did?

With the economy currently on the mend, it's easy to forget where we were four years ago.  But we also need to consider how far ahead we would be today were it not for those who have gambled on prospects for political gain through obstruction over the interests of the country.  Karl Rove, with his superpac, is betting you will forget.