Presidential history

Just realized it had been years since I have posted on this blog. In the past 4 years I have started Presidents.website and dove into historical research. Learning from the past is a vital part of moving forward. If you are interested in checking out some of the stuff I have been working on, check out a few of the article links below:

The top 5 things Calvin Coolidge accomplished in his presidency

How William H. Taft dedicated his life to public service

The top 5 things Theodore Roosevelt accomplished in his presidency

Baseball Blog

I will be taking a break from political blogging to cover something much more pleasant. For the summer I will be blogging about baseball at http://pitbullbaseball.blogspot.com/

Kerry Doing Well At New Job

The naming of John Kerry as Secretary of State was met with little resistance in Washington. For good reason, the job is perfect for the former presidential nominee. Kerry had little problem acting presidential back in 2004. It was a role that he had coveted since meeting John F Kennedy in the early sixties. What Kerry lacked though, was a backbone to stand behind his decisions. As a seasoned Senator, Kerry had been around so long that he eventually took both sides on many key issues. He was a career politician, like most elected officials it was his job to get re-elected. Not to stick his feet in the sand and sink.

This job is different; it utilizes the skills that Kerry perfected in the so called 'backrooms full of smoke'. The art of compromise, wheeling and dealing and any other phrase you want to use is infinitely valuable in foreign relations. His recent work in Iraq is responsible and knowledgeable. Kerry is a likable guy, there is no question that he has seen the entire world and understands the international community.  So, for all the short comings and jokes from after the 2004 campaign, Kerry has resurrected himself in history's eyes. After losing a presidential bid, candidates either become the elephant in the room or in severe cases they become Al Gore. Kerry has bypassed that embarrassment and become what he should have sought in the first place. Here's to redemption.

Is Gun Control Obama's Iraq War?

The reaction from the right over the purposed gun control measure sure reminds me a lot of the lefts reaction to the Iraq War. In the long term I do not think any gun control laws that get passed will cause Obama as much trouble as a war, but there is defiantly a parallel here. Both sides will tell you that each of these cases was an overreaction to a crisis. The need to payback someone for 9-11 and the cause of keeping children safe both sound noble. It is the unintended consequences that cause the trouble though. We all know how the Iraq War played out. While this gun ban will be similar to the 1994 ban, it will not stop all violence. This will also give the right a rally cry to oppose the presidents other legislation. It is already tough to get things done in a second term. This new angle may make it even tougher. When the president looks back in four years, I can only wonder if he will still think about this issue in the same way.

Obama's Second Term Opportunity

As President Obama is sworn into a second term, he has the chance to be what most thought he would have been i.n his first term. With the economy improving, the jobs market ready to explode and war coming to an end, some of the roadblocks he faced four years ago are starting to clear. The budget will be the first battle of his second term. It will be vital for him to show just a little bit of compromise. Unlike the fiscal cliff drama, the budget is more far reaching and could hurt other negotiations in the future. Even though Boehner is not the most well liked member of his party, I believe he will keep his role as speaker. Just like Reagan was tied to O'Neill, Clinton to Gingrich and Bush to Pelosi, Obama and Boehner will go down in history as their parties leader for this decade. Here is where both men have an opportunity. By getting the budget back on track both men and the country would benefit. We are in a different place right now, a better place, for whatever reason things are better. It is times like these where good decisions and good change needs to be made.

BradPitzl.com

The Brad Pitzl Blog is now live under the domain name of its author. Look for updates in 2013.

The Brad Pitzl Blog Endorses President Obama

In the opinion of the author of this blog Barack Obama deserves another 4 years. When Obama took office the United States was facing the next great depression. It didn't happen. While the economic recovery has been slow, it has been steady. When Obama took office we were entrenched in 2 wars, now 1 is over and we are winding down the other. Osama Bin Laden is dead. That right there may have clinched the endorsement of many people. While many may not like all of the changes included in 'Obamacare', at least he got something done. Also keep in mind that this was all done by someone who had the highest of expectations.

This endorsement is also about the challenger. Mitt Romney is a nice guy. A successful guy. And even would make a good president. He has also changed his stance more than a retired old man changes tv stations trying to find Bonanza. It should scare people that if you look at his record he could run for either party... at the same time. I believe that Romney would be a great asset to any president's cabinet, maybe even Obama's. He does understand business, but the United States of America is not a business it is a country of over 300 million people. As the leader of a country you can not look at people as numbers. I get the sense that Romney doesn't know any better and that is a shame.

In closing it is important to note that I voted for Obama in 2008. Some will say that I'm doubling down instead of admitting that I voted wrong in the last election. That is not the case. In 2008 I did not buy in to the cult of personality, I bought into the promises and ideas that the were achieved in the first paragraph of this piece. 

Back to Ohio

As we hit the final stretch of this election more eyes are on Ohio than on the latest Kardashian publicity stunt. With Mitt Romney gaining momentum nationally he has started to reinvest time and resources into the Buckeye State. Ohio is now known as the "Firewall" for Obama's re-election, and its for a good reason. Unemployment in Ohio is at 7.0% and it's unions have done better then others around the country. I also believe that the people of Ohio trust Obama more than Romney. It's not even a democrat or republican thing, this state seems to pick their favorite out of a hat and stick with them. While this is a good thing for the president, Romney needs to find another path to victory.

Romney needs to listen to Rush Limbaugh for some insight on Ohio. Not the commentary of Limbaugh, but rather the bumper music that starts his show. Each day Limbaugh's show starts off with the bass line from "My City Was Gone" by the Pretenders. While Rush never plays the lyrics, they might ring true for Romney. "I went back to Ohio, but my pretty countryside, had been paved down the middle, by a government that had no pride." I will let you interpret the lyrics and apply them to this race (note that the song was written by a liberal).

If I have not spelled this out clear enough, Romney needs to shift all of his resources to another state and leave Ohio. By taking Paul Ryan it should have been expected that he could deliver his state. Wisconsin should be the ground zero state for the GOP. This is where the problem is. Ryan does not look like he can deliver his home state. That can change but it will take money, shaking hands and a little luck. So, while while everyone, including myself, will be watching the polls in Ohio. Wisconsin deserves a little more attention from the GOP and the poll watchers. 

Biden Bites Back

Just when the right though they were going to run away with the election vice president Joe Biden rallies the base. The post are split on who actually won the debate, but the democrats got plenty of red meat. I'm not sure there is any other politician in America at this time that could get a way with the laughing, the smiling and the overall candid actions of the vice president. The phrase "Joe being Joe" played out for most of the debate. There is something to be said about giving your party what they want. President Obama needs to incorporate this into the town hall debate this coming week.

For the Romney-Ryan camp things are still not that bad. The boost that they got in the polls have leveled out, but they are still in striking distance. Romney will need to overcome his perceived lack of empathy for the voters in this weeks debate. he really needs to avoid any gaffes. A George H.W. Bush checkout moment will surely tank his chances. No matter what happens in these debates I think it will be close on election day. the swing after the last debate shows that there are still some independents stuck on the fence. It will be interesting to see if the candidates go after independents more than there base. 

Romney Has a Pulse

Just when his supporters were ready to use a defibrillator on him, Mitt Romney rose to the occasion like Frankenstein on a stormy night. Romney has always looked presidential, but with president Obama's lack of interest he was able to communicate his message in a presidential way. Those on the left will argue the facts, but the simple truth with these debates is that you want to win the image war as much as the substance war. The American people want to see a candidate that wants the job and is enthused. I believe that Obama still has the edge in the next debate. The town hall format is better suited for Obama than Romney. Despite the polls tightening the American people still like the president more than the challenger..

The real question is what will Romney do with the new energy that his campaign has? I can tell that the media loves that this is a horse race now, so how does Romney harness that and seize victory? One way that he could do this is to pick out the biggest message he is winning on and turn the campaign to a referendum on one issue. Up until last Friday this would have been jobs, but with 7.8 I think that is off the table. The one that they seem to have embraced is lack of leadership. Now this could work, but Romney needs to make a better case that he would be more qualified leader. Also, when running against an incumbent president it is very hard to do since the other guys already has the job. 

So what is the one issue that Romney could use to win? Well, in general terms he could win talking about the economy (excluding jobs). This is something that he did in the debates, but some of his points tip toed the line of pissing of the right. The best course would be to still bring up the fact that he has ran businesses. He will need to do it in a George W. Bush compassionate way though. He does not want to come off as a boss, but rather a co-worker; someone who works just as hard as you and is in it with you. This may be a hard task, but this is what he is known for and is best at. We will see what the next week holds.

Mitt Romney's Bankruptcy (A Political Fable)

Now that president Obama has clearly painted Mitt Romney as out of touch with ordinary Americans something dramatic needs to be done to change the course of events in this race. Something that will show the American people that Mitt is one of them. Most are calling for a game changer or a knockout blow in the debates. I have another idea. This will most likely not happen and I do not wish this upon anyone. But for the sake of satire I will give it a go. Mitt Romney needs to lose it all. The houses, the investments... everything.

Mitt Romney Claims Bankruptcy

Oct. 3 2012 - In a shocking development just hours before the first presidential debate, former governor Mitt Romney has filed paperwork to claim chapter 7 bankruptcy. Despite the recent release of his 2011 taxes showing an income for $14 million Romney has seemed to have lost it all. While meeting the press earlier today Romney explained the situation in detail. "I bet on America, I put my hard earned money in the hands of good hard working people. The products just didn't pan out. We have been under constant pressure due to regulations that the Obama administration has imposed on us."  When asked how this will affect the presidential race Romney stayed positive. "At the beginning of this campaign I was fighting for the American people. Now I am truly fighting for my family and to get a job." When asked about the possibility that he does not win in November he was once again strong. "I'll be fine, I'm not too old to go back to work. Ann and I have raised our children and provided for them, so whatever happens at this point is God's will."


I will let the readers decide if this improbably event would change the race's outcome. I would also like to point out the fact that president Obama seems to have some financial stability as well. It has been reported that he has a net worth of around $12 million. That number is quite lower than reports of Romney's wealth, but is still a hell of a lot more money than the average American has.

Should Romney Switch Parties?

There's a dirty little secret that most democratic loyalists don't want you to know. If Mitt Romney was a democrat, even with his current views, they would support him. See Romney has all of the makings of a great politician, he looks the part, knows the script and is clean and articulate. The fact that he has changed his mind on issues more than a teenage girl would not bother a democrat voter as much as it does the finicky GOP base. The democratic party has long held the advantage of creating an illusion around their candidates. They could do wonders with Romney. They have also been better narrators, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, who by golly was a democrat at one time.

At this point I may be making it seem like political parties are filled with actors playing interchangeable roles. Well, this is true to a certain extent. Both sides of the isle have elected officials on their side that they know are like this. As long as these politicians back policies that you agree with why say anything right? Would you rather have some one in your party be in lock step with party policy or would you like them to all be mavericks? Question answered.

As for Romney, his political obituary has not been written yet (fully at least). He may even end up staging a comeback in the debates if he can get Obama into a gotcha moment on jobs and the economy. But rest assured Mitt, either way, at the end of this election you will have a home. While it may not be with the democratic party (right away), I'm sure you will find something to do.

Will Romney Even Keep This Election Close?

Going in to the GOP convention it seemed that Mitt Romney had finally gathered some momentum and would catch up to the president in the polls. Well, after lack of substance and a Democratic Party convention, Romney is worse off than he was in August. With the amount of money that he raised over the summer there is no real excuse for this. Even while the unemployment rate is over 8 percent, Obama is basically tied in polls about who would do a better job with the economy. Romney could just be a very flawed candidate that we will look back on and see the reasons why he lost (Bob Dole). He could also be a candidate that would have won if he did a few things right (Al Gore).

 I spent some time this week and watched the ad's that his campaign has ran in North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio. The same thing stuck out in each of them. Lack of substance. If you take a look at the Obama campaign ad's there are numbers and facts in them. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign seems to be copying John Kerry and are trying to make Obama look like the Dr. Evil. This whole election has been a shift from what the political landscape has been for the last decade. It looks like the democrats learned their lesson from 2004. They learned the classic rule of defining your opponent before they define you. Mitt Romney is not going to be able to define Obama using stale talking points from 2008. He will need to produce numbers and facts while presenting his vision for the country. The Romney campaign says they believe in America, well Mitt, show us how and why you believe in America. 

A Tale Of Two Conventions

Now that both party conventions are in the history books we can compare and contrast their effectiveness. The GOP had the tough task of going first, but did a very good job of introducing Ann Romney and Paul Ryan. The off the cuff routine by Clint Eastwood was the most bizarre moment in convention history. To the medias credit, they did not dwell on the chair routine as much as I expected. I think everyone is in agreement that an 82 year old Clint Eastwood should get a pass. What was more troubling was the fact that the GOP would allow this to happen. As for as Mitt Romney's performance, I would have to give him an A. He is not known for giving good speeches or showing passion, he did a little of both on that Thursday night.

On to the DNC. This convention was the direct opposite of the republicans. It seemed that they took a page out of Karl Rove's playbook and doubled down on their base. From the amount of talk about abortion and womens rights you would have thought that this was the 1972 convention. After taking a look back at this approach I think it was the right thing to do for the party. They are obviously having trouble firing up the base and getting the same enthusiasm as they did in 2008. There also needed to be more than another President Obama speech. They remedied this by having the first lady and President Clinton deliver magnificent speeches. While we already knew their stories, they kind of reintroduced themselves. Bill Clinton gave a very straight forward speech. It was almost like he was sitting with you in your living room having a chat. President Obama lived up to the expectations once again. While it was not as grand as his election night speech in 2008, he made a great case for reelection.    

The Truth About Mitt Romney's Birth Certificate

Mitt Romney just gave the democrats a perfect angle to spin the whole birther debate. It's simple, demand Romney's birth certificate. You might ask what that will prove? We all know that he was born in the U.S. since his father was a famous business man and politician. But this also leads us to the one line on the certificate that could cause the most controversy. How many Americans had a father like George W. Romney listed on their birth certificate? He was a man of great means and high profile.The democrats could make the case that Barack Obama was born to more normal circumstances, thus pounding home the us versus them mentality. Or as the GOP calls it, class warfare. Would this work for the democrats? Well, with unemployment high and the margin between poor and rich widening I would say it would work better than saying your opponent was born in Kenya.

The Clean And Articulate Paul Ryan

Just for fun I thought it would be interesting to write a piece describing Paul Ryan as if I was Joe Biden describing candidate Barack Obama in 2008. I'm not sure what the outcome of this exercise will be or if there will even be one. The obvious elephant in the room in comparing the two is race, but if you throw that out I think this could still be interesting. By now most republicans are probably offended by the notion that Ryan could be compared to Obama. So be it, this republican version of Joe Biden is not out to make friends.

"Mr. Biden, what do you think about candidate Ryan?" Anonymous reporter asks.

"Well, I tell ya. This guy is the first, you know, clean and articulate guy they've produced out of Wisconsin." Biden responds.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You know, its the farm land up there. Good God fearing people, but bless their hearts when it comes to policy."

Without the injection of race was the above scenario as offensive? I would say no. The quote in 2008 did do something though. It brought an underlying issue about the campaign to light. For all we know this could have been staged. Would you take a guy as your V.P. if he said anything close to this? Wait, it has been done. Reagan took Bush after the "voodoo economics" quote. Does getting the elephant out of the room clear uncomfortable sentiment in voters? I think it does.

Now that I have established a direction in this piece, lets put it to practice. The elephants in the room for Mitt Romney are his wealth, tax returns and Bain Capital. When those on the right tried to play Biden they were thoroughly hushed. Newt Gingrich was basically called a traitor. Some agreed though, saying that it was a part of the vetting process. I agree as well, but the way this should have been approached should have been different. It should be handled in the tabloid gotcha moment way. Sorry, but that is the only way to get people's attention these days.

So to put a little spin on what Joe Biden did in 2008 I will present something the Romney campaign could do now. The biggest issue the Romney campaign should be worried about is the label of being rich and out of touch. The democrats are doing a great job on this one. To approach this issue I would go to the old "didn't know the mic was on" routine. One Paul Ryan could be visiting with a small business owner when he gets the question.

"I don't trust Mitt Romney because he is rich." Joe the business owner says.

"Ya know what Joe, I thought the same thing too. I mean who makes 20 million a year off of investments." Ryan shockingly responds.

"What?"

"That's what I thought before I got to know the real Mitt Romney." Ryan follows up.

This exchange would be played on every news/entertainment program for the rest of the campaign cycle. It would also get the point across to voters on the fence. The message would be that the GOP understands your concerns and that's why we have good old Paul Ryan there to make sure Romney doesn't get out of line. While a political campaign would never admit to doing something like this, it happens. It's part of the game. This is also how elections are won.

Some R & R For The Republicans

This time around there was not a "game changer" pick or a maverick. What you got was a young conservative who seems to be clean an articulate. While I do not believe this choice changes things in Ohio or Florida, it should solidify the GOP's position in the House and help them make a run at the Senate. For the first time in recent history the president ticket will have a private citizen on the top and a congressman in the VP position. This will force Romney to accept positions and legislation that Paul Ryan has proposed. For the future of the party this is a good thing. It will be interesting to see how it affects the presidential election. With labor day coming up it will be the last break before the final stretch of the campaign, and over the next two and a half months things will intensify time ten. That being said, with the selection of Ryan conservatives can rest easy and relax their ticket is now balanced.

Where's the Veep?

OK Mitt, you've had enough time to decide on your running mate. We both know that if you wait until the week before the convention it's going to be anti-climactic and whomever you pick will let down your base. How about for histories sake you just come out and make the announcement tomorrow? Or the day after. No fan fare, no staged event where the families are waving to a massive crowd. How about just announcing who will be your partner and just getting down to business? Better yet, why not announce your choice at a small business that has been affected by Obama's time in office or one that will benefit from your plan once you get their. Talk about a stark contrast that you can draw with the president. A small town event like this would make history; or at least make you go down in history based on the reaction you get. The presidency is about taking chances and so far the Romney campaign has been to shy. With the VP choice being the next major headline grabber that Romney can control he needs to get it right. Easier said than done one might say. Well, with records amounts of cash coming in and a riled up base, Romney should be excepted to hit a home run.

Not a gold medal moment for Mitt Romney

The Romney campaign should have had a better game plan for dealing with the British press. While the game plan should have been to smile and shake hands, devolved into a failed attempt to pump up his own Olympic record. His stance of not politically attacking the president while on foreign soil is a smart one and has helped him save face, but having the foreign press on your back will not help you beat a sitting president. Part of the job of a presidential candidate is to act presidential. In this case Romney has failed. I am also not sure he can fully talk about his role in the 2002 Winter Olympics now. Instead he will now have to deflect any talk of the Olympics because it will bring follow up questions about his statement. This is the type of mistake that a political newcomer makes and not a veteran like Romney. So much for using the Olympics to his advantage. Romney will be lucky to get a participation ribbon in November if he keeps this up.

What does Obama do after the Bain attacks?

Well, round one has been won by the president. The Bain attacks have been effective and have unnerved Mitt Romney.While Bain will be a part of his stump speech for the rest of the summer, Obama needs a second act. The narrative that they are trying to build is that Romney is rich, out of touch and he will outsource jobs. This caricature makes Romney look like a mixture of the Ebenezer Scrooge and Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. While painting this type of picture will get attention and rally your base, it still doesn't offer a plan for America. The old one-two punch I would suggest would be a plan to bring jobs back to America by offering major tax breaks. Maybe they can work in the theme like "From India to Indiana"? A two prong attack like this would have Romney reeling. It will be interesting to see what Romney does to counter these attacks since he has done little so far. No Mitt, you can't just call the president Un-American or say he will raise taxes. You need to find a little more substance and create your own picture of the president. I think a Jimmy Carter analogy might work some or you might want to go shining city upon a hill. Either way, Romney needs to do more or this won't be close. No matter how much money he raises.