Will We Be Fooled Again?

On November 4, 2008, the American voters went to the polls to elect the President of the United States. Every 4 years, we hear the same story. This was to be the most important election of our lifetime. We usually just brush this off as political spin, but this year seemed to be very different. We faced very troubling times both at home and abroad.

Every Presidential election you can count on about 35-40% of the American people to vote for the Democratic candidate and about 35-40% to vote for the Republican candidate. It would not matter who were the candidates. The Democrats could run Mickey Mouse and the Republicans could run Daffy Duck. It is the 20-30% of the swing and independent voters who decide the election.

This year was no different. It would be very hard changing the minds of the die-hard Democrats or Republicans. We knew the outcome of the election was in our hands - the American voter that will cross party lines to elect the most qualified candidate who possesses integrity, experience, character and good judgment to lead our nation.

We had to decide between two very different candidates. Barack Obama, the Democrat, was a young, inexperienced African-American candidate who had done very little in his short career in the United States Senate. However, he was a political phenomenon of rare magnitude. His speeches inspired millions with expectations of "hope and change." John McCain, the Republican, was an old, experience candidate who had served his nation with dignity both in the military and in Congress for over 30 years. He lacked the charisma that his opponent had and seemed out of touch with the new and younger voters. We were torn between a young, inspirational candidate with new ideas and one that seemed to promise more of the same.

Some of us remembered when we elected Jimmy Carter in 1976. He was a candidate with very little experience. It was four years of high taxes, high interest rates, high inflation, a gas crisis, and a terrible foreign policy record. Did we want to repeat that mistake? However, many of us were unhappy with President Bush. We were tired of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The economy in 2008 was heading into a recession and we were ready for a change. We blamed Bush for the economy, but we seemed to have a short memory. The first 6 years of Bush's administration the economy was fine, despite suffering the nation's worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. This hurt our economy temporarily, but with the help of Bush and the Republican congress it recovered to levels before the attack. In November 2006 we voted in a Democratic congress. Americans voted for change in 2006, and we got it! Consumer confidence plummeted, gas prices soared, unemployment rose, retirement investments took a big hit, and we began to face a national financial crisis. Who did the voters blame? They blamed Bush and the Republican Party.

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President and American headed into a new year anticipating Hope and Change. What we got is not what we expected. The American people had been fooled. He was not the moderate President as he portrayed himself in his campaign. His economic stimulus package did not improve the economy and unemployment rose to about 9%. Gas prices soared to an all-time high with no relief in sight. In over three years his approval rating dropped dramatically. The majority disapproved of the healthcare legislation he rammed through Congress. Most political polls showed that only 44-46% of Americans thought he deserved to be reelected in 2012. Most polls also show that over 60% thought the country was headed in the wrong direction.

A familiar American phrase is "Fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us." Well shame on us because we elected him again. Hopefully we have finally learned from our mistake. Over seven in 10 Obama voters, and 55 percent of Democrats, regret voting for President Obama's reelection in 2012, according to a new Economist/YouGov.com poll.

The poll asked those who voted for Obama's reelection a simple question: “Do you regret voting for Barack Obama?”

— Overall, 71 percent said yes, 26 percent no.

— 80 percent of whites said yes, 39 percent of blacks said yes and 70 percent of Hispanics said yes.

— 84 percent of women said yes, and just 61 percent of men agreed.

— 55 percent of Democrats said yes, as did 71 percent of independents.

A good country learns from their mistakes and a great country will correct these mistakes. We started by returning control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans in 2010 and the Senate in 2014. Our next step is for the GOP to return to the White House in 2016.

The Republicans must find a good candidate to face Hillary Clinton in 2016. There are many that will seek the nomination - Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Chris Christie or Mike Huckabee are just a few. However, can they win? America was excited to elect the first Black President. They will be equally excited to elect the first woman. I am offering a name that many will not recognize - Dr. Ben Carson. He is an African-American Neurosurgeon who gave the keynote address at the 2013 National Prayer Conference in Washington. With Obama sitting nearby, Carson gave a very conservative message that addressed the many problems of our country, including Obamacare.

Carson is not a politician, but neither were George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower. We need a decent, God-fearing man with "common sense" to lead us out of the problems that hurt our nation today. I hate to bring up the issue of race, but Carson could win enough Black votes to defeat Hillary. America cannot afford 4-8 more years of a liberal in the White House. We have already been fooled twice. Well it seems that we are being fooled again. This time it's the GOP that is being fooled by Donald Trump. He claims that he will make America great again! We don't need to be great, we do need to be blessed. We need a leader with high moral values and integrity who can bring this nation back to one that God will be happy to bless again. Hopefully, we will wake up and not be fooled again!