On April 4, Barack Obama announced the start of his reelection campaign. It is expected that his re-election campaign will cost about $1 billion. Even with substantial financial resources and the lack of a strong Republican challenger, Obama does not have any chance of reelection. Historically speaking, the odds are against Obama. However, the odds are against Obama for good reason: he added trillions to the national debt while the country was trying to recover from a recession. Therefore, I urge you, students, to consider the Republican challenger.
In the 2008 election, Obama won the state of North Carolina, and in Technician‘s mock 2008 election with 52.9 percent of the votes. The N.C. State community barely supported Obama the first time he ran for the presidency, so there is a slim chance of him winning the Pack’s vote again.
Students at N.C. State are of voting age and effected by the state of the country’s economy. Budget cuts due to the bad economy are frustrating for students. According to the NCSU budget cuts FAQ, the university is taking a 15 percent cut, which equates to about $80 million.
The bad economy is affecting course enrollment, with the possibility of setting some behind in their degree. The FAQ says, “It is likely that we will eliminate some low-enrolled courses and academic degree programs and under-subscribed majors and minors.” Couple the economic frustration at NCSU with the fact that southern states usually vote Republican, and you end up with a campus that will probably shy away from voting for Obama in the 2012 election.
According to Gallup, Obama’s Presidential Approval Rating for the current week is 43 percent. Since the beginning of this year, Obama’s ratings have been fluctuating between 45 and 50 percent, but never surpassing the 50 percent. With such a low approval rating, there is a slim chance of Obama being re-elected.
The low approval rating can be directly tied to the state of the economy. Historically, the worse off the state of the economy is, the worse the President’s approval rating is. The most famous example of this is Herbert Hoover: the Wall Street crash leading to the Great Depression occurring within the first year of his Presidency. Unable to turn the economy around, Hoover was defeated by a landslide by FDR.
Even though Obama took office after the current economic downturn had begun, it took him only 421 days in Office before he had added $2 trillion to the national debt. There was a strong hope that Obama would fix the economy, but he only made it worse. And, in making it worse, he affected not only the national budget, but the NCSU budget as well.
It scares people to see the national debt rising, the unemployment rate rising and the world economy falling apart. The citizens associate the state of the economy with the state of the country, which reflects back on the president. Even if Obama weren’t running for a second term, the negative light from his presidency would point right to the Democratic Party. This could cause the American public to favor the Republican Party when voting for the next president. This makes the argument that there is a lack of a strong Republican candidate completely moot.
Obama’s lack of support, poor presidential approval rating and the state of the economy make him a prime candidate for losing the 2012 election. The only question remaining is which Republican will step up to lead our country into the next presidential term. Regardless of who it is, he or she will be undoubtedly better than Barack Obama.
Obama’s lack of support, poor Presidential approval rating, and the state of the economy make him a prime candidate for losing the 2012 election. The only question remaining is which Republican will step-up to lead our country into the next Presidential term. Regardless of who it is, he or she will be undoubtedly better than Barack Obama.
