Obama Thrashes Romney and the GOP for Destroying the American Dream

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:30 pm

While campaigning in Ohio, President Obama thrashed the Republican Party for having a plan to win an election, but no plan to restore the American Dream.

Here’s the video from C-SPAN:

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Transcript:

THE PRESIDENT: And you know what, there are plenty of patriotic, successful Americans who agree with us. They want to do the right thing because they care about this country.

On jobs, on education, on housing, on health care, on retirement, on all these things that are the pillars of a middle-class life, we can’t go backwards. We’ve got to go forwards. And that’s the choice facing us this November. And the choice could not be more clear.

Now, I’m not here to tell you, Ohio, that this is going to be easy, or it’s going to be quick. Changes that we’re trying to bring about — we’re dealing with problems that happened over the course of decades. They’re not going to be changed overnight. And I know sometimes people feel like, well, Obama, he’s done some good things, but, boy, things are still tough out there, change hasn’t happened fast enough. I understand that. I get frustrated, too. But what’s required are long-term solutions, not slick promises, not quick fixes.

And there are plenty of well-funded special interests in Washington, and their powerful allies in Congress, who want to keep things just the way they are. But don’t ever buy the line that they’re selling that we can somehow accomplish more by doing less. That might benefit their interests, but it won’t benefit yours.

That’s not how we became America. Our parents, our grandparents, the founders of this country, didn’t set their sights lower. They didn’t settle for something less. And neither do we — because we’re Americans. If we’re going to be the country we know we can be, we’ve got to keep doing the hard work of building the future of this country for our kids, just like our parents and grandparents did for us. (Applause.)

And let me tell you something. From now until November, the other side is going to spend more money than we’ve ever seen before, and they will be raining ads down on your head. And they’ll tell you it’s all my fault — I can’t fix it because I think government is the answer to everything, or because I haven’t make a lot of money in the private sector, or I think everything is doing just fine. That’s what all the scary voices in the ads will tell you. That’s what Mitt Romney will say. That’s what Republicans in Congress will say.

And that’s their plan for winning an election, but it’s not a plan to create jobs. (Applause.) It’s not a plan to provide you with greater security for you and your family. It’s not a plan to restore the middle class or restore the American Dream. And that’s the kind of plan we need right now, is a plan to build the middle class and restore the American Dream.

This speech is an example of why Republicans are getting very nervous. President Obama is not only able to portray himself as the all-American candidate who had to work his way up from the bottom, but he is also defining Mitt Romney and the Republican Party as the killers of success stories like his.

Most Americans can identify with and admire President Obama’s personal story. In contrast, there are few people in America who can identify with Romney’s biography of being born rich and getting richer, but President Obama went beyond basic biographical contrast, and defined the American Dream. His American Dream involves opportunity for all. In contrast Romney and the Republicans only want opportunity for some, and they want to deny those in the bottom or middle of having any chance of getting to the top.

Obama is able to define Romney any way that he wants. He is meeting little to no resistance from a Republican Party that really doesn’t care for their nominee, or from the nominee’s campaign itself. Mitt Romney is the empty canvas on which Obama is painting a campaigning masterpiece.

In some ways, this is the president’s revenge for 2008. The first time Obama ran for the presidency his love of America was constantly question. The right attacked his patriotism and his love of America. Fast forward to 2012, and Barack Obama has become the All American candidate. The fighter for the middle class. The president with the biography that is the American Dream.

President Obama has turned the tables. He is the candidate who talks about personal responsibility. Obama speaks about the greatness of our nation, and the limitless possibilities for our future. Mitt Romney has become the one who offers up nothing but negativity and anger. Romney’s campaign has no optimism or joy. It is negative slog through the dark circles of American politics.

If hope fuels the Obama campaign, negativity is the Romney camp’s fuel.

Obama’s championing of the American Dream has become Romney and the Republicans’ worst nightmare.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association