“I’m the president”

It struck me when President Obama said these words" I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the president “but then after I thought about it, I realized that those words weren't meant for me; they were for those who have marginalized him in the last four years. I remembered all the fuss about him talking to our schoolchildren because some thought he was going to poison their minds. I remember when the president of the United States had to send a staffer to Hawaii to retrieve his birth certificate, so we could move away from the silliness However; I also remember watching Fox and Friends where Glenn Beck called the president a racist. It's funny how we became immune to all the insults but what struck me was giddiness because the president was unable to bring the Olympics to the United States. So is this is what the Republicans were trying to tell us when they said that the Democrats were rooting for failure in Iraq during the Bush years? This is why my Republican friends will never understand how that sign that read “Pray for Obama" was seen as just one more nail in the coffin.

I've seen way too many Obama speeches to the put a grade on last night's speech, so I'll leave it to the critics. I thought the speech was an appeal to the base with a humble plea for us to remain hopeful because, if we don't, someone else will fill in the void. I think Joe's Biden's speech, and the president's speech were well coordinated because the vice president talked of the many important decisions a president has to make. President Obama then summed it up with a quote from Abraham Lincoln when he said “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” We don't have a dictatorship, but a president has to sign and make decisions on important pieces of legislation. That's what it's all about; after Congress have their say; we need to have a responsible and competent person to either veto or sign the piece of legislation that will have an impact on our lives. The president picked up where Clinton left off by saying it's still going to be a long hard struggle, but we will travel down that road together. He explained that the hope and change was us and not how his opponents and the media portrayed it. We made the changes by insisting that our representatives pass Obamacare.

I had a good laugh when the president said “
the Republicans and their nominee, Mitt Romney, want to take the nation back to the same old policies they have espoused for years, said Obama, in which tax cuts and regulation reduction are the answer to every ill.

“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another,” the president said. “Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”

Didn't America's uncle, Joe Biden, give a heartfelt inspirational speech? I call him Uncle Joe because he reminds me of the family member who will slip up now and then but always has your back.

The Republicans will send out a political wonk to challenge Joe Biden in Paul Ryan. Representative Ryan will be cordial, respectful and knowledgeable, and at times he will look like he's overwhelming the vice president, but I'm not worried at all because Joe Biden has never lost an election, and he's been through this before. Biden will know every piece of legislation that Paul Ryan has voted for, or has opposed, and he will use it as leverage.

Who was that John Kerry, who spoke last night? If he used the fiery rhetoric that he used against Romney for his lack of foreign policy experience against the Swift Voters, he would've been President Kerry. I was surprised that we didn't hear from Sarah Palin last week but even more surprised by the remark she made last night in response to Kerry's speech when he said, "Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching ‘Rocky IV." Sarah Palin responded by sayin“I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name. How does he know my name?” the former Alaska governor said Thursday on Fox Business Network. “I mean, aren’t these guys supposed to be these big-wig elites who don’t waste their time on the little people like me?” Was that a reality check?

It was really strange not seeing the GOP trout out the generals and military dignitaries last week at their convention. They doubled down on that mistake when Mitt Romney did not mention Afghanistan or acknowledge the troops in his acceptance speech. The Democrats saw that opening and took full advantage. Conventions are about optics. Then again, the Romney campaign will have a hard time convincing anyone that Obama is weak on terrorism.

I'm glad the conventions are over, but I've learned a lot. I learned that I was wrong when I thought that state politics don't matter. The Democrats believe that Texas will become a swing state by 2016. They were helped out when the Feds ruled against the ruling Republican Party on redistricting and voter ID. As Democrats, we can help tremendously by voting for Rosa- Meza Harrison for U.S. Representative in the 27th Congressional District of Texas, Paul Sadler as our United States senator and Alex Hernandez Jr. for State Representative of District 30. If we don't show an interest, we can't blame the DNC for not supporting candidates in Texas. Unfortunately, our great state will give all its electoral votes to Mitt Romney, but we can make them work for it in 2016.