Griffin+Jende

Presidential Election 2012

 * Barack Obama and Mitt Romney**

**Background on Obama:**
Barack Obama is the current president of the united states after being elected in 2008 and is a member of the democratic party. He was born in Honolulu Hawaii in 1961. Obama graduated from Columbia University In 1983 with a degree in political science. He became an Illinois senator in 1996 and served from 1997 to 2004.

Views on Key Topics
Obama recently said, 'We're a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. We've got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves. My belief is that we have to enforce the laws we've already got, make sure that we're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We've done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we've got more to do when it comes to enforcement. But weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced."
 * Abortion**: Obama is pro-choice and believes that the government should provide funding for women who cannot afford abortion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlY9HFRNUHs (until1:04)
 * Immigration:**Obama is more lenient on immigration policies and thinks that illegal immigrants brought to the states as children should not be deported. Also believes that illegal immigrants attending college or enlisting in the army should be allowed citizenship. For more information about Obama's plans regarding immigration look at http://www.voxxi.com/obama-says-immigration-reform-possible/
 * Education**: Obama released schools from the No Child Left Behind law. He has provided some states with large sums of money to enforce polices he supports. For more on Obama with regards to education follow the link below. http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/unedited-letters/for-education-s-sake-vote-for-obama-1.40918
 * Taxes:**Thinks that we should increase taxes on the wealthy to at least 30% of their income, and he wants to lower the amount of taxes on the middle class. For more information from Obama on taxes go to http://2012.presidential-candidates.org/Obama/Taxes.php
 * Guns:**Has not tried to provide stronger gun control as president but previously supported stronger gun control. He also supported bans on assault type weapons.

Obama is a liberal and is on the left end of the political spectrum and believes that there should be more federal government. He thinks that the government should provide for everyone and look to solve citizens problems. He is strongly supported by people who share democratic beliefs, the African American population, and the Hispanic community. Some of the main sources of opposition he faces are republican party members, large businesses, and upper class citizens. Some things most people don't know about Obama is that he played on a varsity high school basketball team that won state in Hawaii, he can bench 200lbs, and he had a pet ape while he lived in Indonesia.

The current polls have Romney ahead with 49% and Obama with 47%

For more information on Obama check out his website at http://www.barackobama.com/



=Background on Romney:= Mitt Romney has been since 2003 the Governor of Massachusetts and a member of the republican party. He was born in 1947 in Michigan. He graduated from Harvard in 1975 with a degree in business and a law degree. He was married in 1969 and has five sons and belongs to the Mormon church

=Views on Key Topics=
 * Abortion:**Romney is against abortion. He thinks that rights should be decided by each state and that federal aid to pay for things such as abortion should no longer be funded by the government. For a closer look at Romney's plans about abortion follow the link at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/us/politics/romney-clarifies-abortion-stance.html?_r=0
 * Immigration:**Romney opposes education paths for illegal immigrants and does not think illegal immigrants that attend college should be denied legal status. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVqVKVWMmkc
 * Education:**Supported the No Child Left Behind program but doesn't think the federal government should control education as much as it currently does. For more on Romney's plans for education follow the link at http://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/13327-romneys-education-plan
 * Taxes:** Believes that we should lower tax rates on the upper class and tax the lower class more than we currently are.
 * Guns:**He does not believe in stricter gun control. Instead he thinks that there should be stricter enforcement of gun laws that have already been set in place.To look more at Romney and gun control look at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/14/gun-rights-groups-now-aligning-solidly-behind-romney/

Mitt Romney is a conservative and falls more on the right side of the political spectrum. Romney believes in less federal government. He thinks that people should take responsibility for there action, and that government should not need to go and fix all of citizens problems but provide them with ways to fix it by themselves. He is strongly supported by upper class citizens, republicans, and large businesses. Some sources of opposition he has are from homosexuals, poorer citizens, and members of the democratic party. A few facts about Romney that most people don't know are that one of his favorite foods is hot dogs, his middle name mitt came from a relative who played professional football for the bears, and he is a huge Beatles fan.

The current polls have Romney ahead with 49% and Obama with 47%

For more information on Mitt Romney take a look at his website at https://www.mittromney.com/donate/victory?gclid=CJatqILUrbMCFVBgMgod_GsAXQ