This week President Barack Obama announced a new jobs plan to congress as legislators return from vacation. This may seem like many other presidential duties, but amid a conflict over scheduling and the race for a republican presidential candidate, many are already looking for deciding factors for the next election. The early interest may stem from widespread government disapproval. Though early, it is never a bad idea to analyze candidates to determine their

worth.

Let us begin with Barack Obama. To quote him from the foreword of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States 2009 to describe his actions, he said “That is why we took necessary, but not necessarily popular, steps to shore up the financial system and America’s auto industry… Even as we took these steps, we also pursued a broader effort to bring about meaningful change.” The president has brought about meaningful change.

His main fault seems to be that his changes have not changed enough, they could have been better structured, and that he has not done much since 2009. He has also been criticized for his willingness to compromise his position greatly as well.

Many are upset with the current government because of the bitter division and discord. There is an outcry for an environment of cooperation and compromise. There need not be complete agreement on all issues, but a mere understanding and common desire to lead the American people to meet current challenges and surpass them.

Lyndon Johnson responded to the nation’s problems of that day in his State of the Union address in 1968 by saying, “We know that we cannot change all of this in a day, it represents the bitter consequences of more than three centuries. But the issue is not whether we can change this; the issue is whether we will change this.” So to change the government, we need a leader who will actually strive to implement change to solve our governing crisis.

Who is the one who will change the system?

Rick Perry has not shown the ability for significant change in his past. He simply has been one to steer the ship in the direction it is moving, but he has never turned the wheel and gone into uncharted water. Mitt Romney may know how to run a business, but are those cutthroat principles of deregulation and competition going to lead to change? No, they are the ideology that led our government into its current position. Barack Obama has relented in his efforts at change recently.

This may cause grumbling from many, but it does not change his past record of changing things for the better. To rid ourselves of the plague of a gridlock government, we must choose people who have shown the propensity to change things to represent us. That person at the presidential level is Barack Obama, yet we must also accompany this with electing others who will change the system as well come next November.

Michael Wilburn is a freshman majoring in Political Science with a minor in Religious Studies. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]