To the editor:
With just days until the election, we as Iowans are coming to the end of a spectacular journey. The ads are about to end, the mailings will cease and our land-line phone calls will revert back to relatives, neighbors and wrong numbers.
As a lifelong Republican, it would take one very exceptional Democrat to get my vote for president and while I didn’t vote for the current president, I embraced him as the leader of my country. Unfortunately, the optimism of that incredible ascent to power has been marked with more disappointments than achievements.
I could say that if you’ve been paying attention to the news that you know all of the facts. Or I could claim that I do. But that wouldn’t really be accurate would it? It’s basically impossible to know the facts when both sides have their own set of them.
Since it’s up to us as voters to decide which so-called facts we should believe, we might as well skip the debates, the pundits and the commercials and look around town for signs of the times.
In the past four years we have watched as a car dealer, a large farm and home store, a few restaurants, some small retailers and an iconic movie theater have faded into the darkness of a weak economy. Newton is laden with signs that our struggles continue. We are fortunate, however, to live in a town where the American spirit remains incredibly strong, in spite of our economic woes.
Since we’ve seen more “Store Closing” than “Grand Opening” signs during these past four years, the choice seems incredibly clear that Mitt Romney should be given a chance to lead our country back to prosperity. I am willing to bet that loosening regulations, lowering taxes, eliminating wasteful government programs and tackling the debt head-on are the policies necessary to restore our economy. Once we construct the foundation of our fiscal renaissance, we can return to debating the social issues that come with the territory of living in a democracy.
Marshall Critchfield
Newton