November 1, 2012
Why President Barack Obama Deserves a Second Term in Office
The issue facing us tonight is whether or not President Obama has earned a second term in office. My goal is to convince you that he has, and hopefully I’ll do just that. Let’s talk a little about the social issues that are facing our country, and how President Obama’s handling of these issues has shown me, a twenty-year-old college student, that he has earned a second term in office.
We are in a very unique period in our history. Right now more than ever, social issues matter. The fact that we are able to pick up our Smartphones at any second during the day and tap into apps like Facebook or Twitter creates a situation that we have never experienced in history. Any person that has some access to technology can have their opinions acknowledged and responded to, and this means that for the first time ever, people feel like their voices are actually being heard.
Right now, daily tweets, status updates and comments reflect that two of the most hot button issues that this country is grappling over are Women’s health rights and marriage equality for gay couples. Both of these issues being extremely important because both have to do with equality, meaning equal rights in comparison to all other citizens.
So how does the President fit into this? Pres. Obama has an incredibly unique quality that makes him the perfect person to fill the presidential office at this time and to deal with these essential issues, and that quality is empathy. Empathy, meaning the ability to step back from a situation and remove your personal opinions and beliefs, not necessarily yourself, but your personal opinions and beliefs in order to look at a situation from an, if you will, omnipresent perspective and say not how does this situation relate back to me but how is this situation effecting the people involved. And when I say, “people involved,” I mean those that actually live with these problems in their daily lives. Those that realize that they are not being treated as equal and have to tell themselves everyday, “that’s just how it is.” In order to be empathetic, you have to have a completely different manner of thinking. You have to look outside your own mind and ask questions like, “How do women feel when they encounter red tape that makes it difficult for them to access the necessary implements to keep themselves healthy? How do those who are gay feel about the fact that they are not allowed to make a commitment to their partner?” President Obama does this and I feel comfortable saying that because I believe we can see this empathy in his track record, in the laws he has signed and in the issues that he supports, and we can see it whenever he speaks in front of the media or in front of any audience. Now, let me provide some examples as back up to my thoughts so that I’m not just ranting and raving.
Just to stick with an order, let’s start again with women’s health concerns, mammograms for example. For those without the ability to afford insurance, Mammograms can cost anywhere from 150-400$ per scan. Obviously that expense is going to be written out. For those of limited means, that’s weeks worth of food, hundreds of miles worth of gas, a daycare bill even. Scheduling a mammogram in this situation is barely allowed to be a thought, let alone a reasonable option. But yet, this is just a quick scan that can provide life saving information, especially for those who have a history of breast cancer in their families. President Obama realized that this was a problem and he stepped into the shoes of women who are in this exact situation, who can’t afford this test, and DID something to help by making sure, under the Affordable Care Act, that all mammogram screenings for women are covered without a co-pay. Now, yes, the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has obviously invoked political turmoil, but that is exactly the point I’m trying to make; despite the political repercussions, Obama recognized a problem and stood up and did something for those women that stood to benefit; those women who deserved an equal chance at living a healthy life.
A similar occurrence with marriage equality. The President spoke in front of the entire country on ABC news and said, I believe that same sex couples should have the right to commit to one another through marriage. This announcement was staggering. No president has ever supported an issue like this before, and most likely no president will do it again. Why? Because, again, it creates political turmoil. It’s political suicide. Supporting any topic that might make potential voters uncomfortable causes this problem. And two topics that definitely make people uncomfortable, breast health and gay marriage. But rather than worry about losing voters, President Obama’s quality of empathy actually allowed him to fulfill his job as PRESIDENT. Because, as president, it’s not his job to worry about voters. It’s his job to represent the people of this country, to fight on their behalf when he sees that people aren’t getting the chances they deserve and aren’t benefiting from the rights that are entitled to them. It is only through means of being empathetic that a President can insure the constitutional notion that every PERSON in this country, not every male, not every straight person, but every PERSON is treated equally. President Obama has done this, and I believe that because of the person he has shown himself to be, he will continue to do this with regard to all his presidential responsibilities, and for that reason deserves another term in office.
Thank you.