And Approaching the Finishing Line, Neck & Neck..

Now that its Monday, November 5th and the media is tired of covering the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and the Presidential candidates got in their insincere photo-ops while a Noreaster is going to come by the same path as Sandy making those people's already upside-down lives even more stressful by Wednesday..

Well.. we guess that all means its the last day of campaigning before Election Day tomorrow... a vote between two candidates:

An academic incumbent who's absolutely done Nothing positive to impact the national economy and job creation (Psst!  Don't tell that to black voters, 99.99% of them lockstep for Obama and who when polled, actually believe their lives are better now economically vs 4yrs ago [it isn't]), and a candidate with business experience that has a reputation more for firing people then hiring them; a person that at best we have to hope will do something positive if elected rather than be assured of it..

And loyal readers know how much we hate the word 'Hope'

So those are the two choices.

As for endorsements, its difficult for us to stick our neck out and push one candidate over the other.

For instance, we've made no secret that we at A&G thoroughly dislike Obama as President.  We find his term in office to be an abject failure; wasting his 'honeymoon' period and first two year when  the Democrats controlled Congress to push ObamaCare even though polls showed 60% of the American people were against it for one reason or another while the Administration burnt bridges and ruffled feathers every step of the way to get it enacted.

Meanwhile by this point, any sincere opportunity to push through legislation on job creation and a large economic stimulus to jump start the economy was gone.  And by midterms, the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives as well as losing seats in the Senate as the people showed their unhappiness with the Administration's course..

We're not saying or implying job creation was a priority of Obama.. we're just saying had it been, the first term would have been the best time strategically to implement such policies.

For all the lies and innuendo of Obama as a 'Socialist', 'Communist' or other 'ist' that put everyday people first, he proved to be nothing of the sort.  He's a capitalist.. well actually a Fascist (merger of corporation and state)

Obama was/is an avid corporatalist . He's allowed the Fed Reserve to run amok to artificially boost the stock market by about $7 Trillion in value since the March 09 lows and has not directed his Attorney General  to make a single arrest of anyone important in connection to the market crash of 2008.

We could go on and on.. the failed foreign policies, not just of Iraq and Afghanistan, but Libya, Egypt, Syria,etc.. The insincere and complete 180deg turn on the issue of gay marriage from 'against' to 'for' SOLELY because VP Biden essentially called Obama out on it publicly so the President had to take a side.. The push to raise the National Debt ceiling to over 16 Trillion dollars when as Senator he voted against it when Bush sought the increase...etc..

It would take too much time to write it all out..

So to restate, we believe Obama's been a failure as President but still commands a following for a combination of factors including racial/social beliefs of certain voters, a loyalty toward anyone who represents their political party vs a Republican and because the President is a smooth, soothing communicator and that gives people comfort.

But that doesn't mean we endorse Romney officially either...

For one thing, while Obama is Wall Street's servant/whore/butler, Romney IS Wall St... so.. not too promising either way the election turns out...

Also, we don't know which President Romney we will get-- the man who was Governor of Massachusetts and was by all accounts a moderate conservative who enacted policies in his state with his people's best interest in mind, or "candidate" Romney-- the one that is very fiscal conservative and who believes the only people that matter are the wealthy and middle class, with the poor to just eat their 'cake'.

We also agree with Romney's foreign policy vision but will he stick to it if elected... or will he compromise his values and ideals like it seems every President before him has?

Ultimately we don't wish to tell you how to vote... you're all free thinking people and based on your beliefs, ideologies and life experiences, you will make the best choice for you, and really in an election its all one can expect.

You and I... we really don't know these two candidates..  Even after over a year of campaigning and in the President's case, nearly 4 years in office...  We truly do not know either person...

We know what they want us to know.. They love their wives and their children and are devoted, doting family men...  That they love this country and the flag and God and apple pie and 'Mom'...

And we see these men as they wish us to see them:  Clean cut, well manicured and groomed..  Always soft spoken and calm and articulate and thoughtful...

But really you or I know nothing truly about Obama or Romney.. what thoughts are surveyed in the most private and quiet recesses of their minds...  What axes (if any) does either man have to grind?   What (if anything) makes each person bitter... or resentful.. or irrational in thought and feeling?

During the 1988 President debate between George Bush 41 and Michael Dukakis, the Democrat nominee was asked essentially how he would feel if his wife was raped and impregnated from it...  The purpose of the question was to challenge his stance on abortion, and his emotionally detached answer was a big reason people turned off toward voting for Dukakis...

But actually, that was a great question to ask to a Presidential candidate because normally they evoke non-scripted responses that let voters peek into the minds, hearts and souls of the candidates in a way stump speeches never can.

Ask yourself-- would you be voting any differently tomorrow if the candidates were asked questions like the following:

1) Please express when was the last time you genuinely cried?   When was the last time you expressed genuine rage/anger/passion... what provoked it?  When was the last time you felt genuinely fearful or scared in some way?

2)  If your spouse or parent suffered with incurable cancer and did not wish to live through the prolonged suffering and pain but instead wished to be euthanized, would you support that decision even though it is currently against the law?  Would (or could) you be the one to assist in it?

3) If a loved one (spouse, parent or child) was murdered and the true killer was arrested and found guilty, what would you want his/her punishment to be?  Would you desire the death penalty? Would (or could) you forgive him/her?

4) If given the opportunity, what parts of yourself or your life as a child or teenager would you seek to go back in time to change or alter?

5)  Are you a perfect person or imperfect?  If you say 'imperfect', explain in what ways you see yourself that way beyond the general or shallow (such as wishing you were taller or stronger or better at sports,etc..)?

Honestly we have no clue how either candidate would respond to those questions if injected with truth serum.  We can assume some things based on public perception but we really never will know any of the answers to introspective questions like this..

And because of that, ultimately we can not endorse anyone.

We just hope that whoever wins, the next 4 years show remarked improvement from the previous four.