Finally, the conventions are over! All the pomp, circumstance, and madness are behind us. It appears that both parties achieved their objectives.

There were some magnificent speeches; and some rather bizarre appearances.

What was Clint Eastwood thinking when he tried his hand at stand-up comedy? He shouldn’t quit his day job?

At the other convention, what possessed former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to morph into her Exorcist routine? She acted as if she needed some serious medication?

Now, the official campaign season begins and we all have a critical decision to make as we cast our vote for President.

Equally critical will be our votes in the congressional elections.

Fortunately, we will have three presidential debates in October that will hopefully provide us with a much better perspective of the deep divide between the visions for America held by the two presidential candidates.

So who will get our votes?

At a Washington ballroom dinner in 2011, comedian Seth Meyers addressed President Obama; obviously in a joking manner:

“I’ll tell you who could definitely beat you,” Meyers said to Obama, referring to th upcoming election. “2008 Barack Obama; you would have loved him.”
Yes indeed. Where is the Barrack Obama from 2008?

He certainly wasn’t on that stage the night when he accepted his party’s nomination for a second term.

That night, in front of his party faithful and a nation full of many believers yearning to find a reason to give him one more chance, he told Americans about his vision for America; while leaving out the substance.

A fitting title for President Obama’s acceptance speech would be something like “Memories of the Future” (borrowed from a “Drudge Report” headline).

There was something missing that night; in fact there was a lot missing during the entire Democratic National Convention.

What was missing was any discussion about the realities of what has transpired since the “glory days” of Campaign 2008.

We noticed how embarrassingly unprepared Democrats were in answering the one simple question that will likely determine the outcome of this election: “Are we better off than we were four years ago?”

There appears to be a good reason that Democratic Party leaders fumbled with that question; the answer is “No, we are not”.

Let’s examine some domestic economic facts demonstrating that this country is not making slow progress as the Democrats claimed; but is falling further behind (provided by “The Investor’s Business Daily”):

• Median incomes: These have fallen 7.3% since Obama took office, which translates into an average of $4,000. Since the so-called recovery started, median incomes continued to fall, dropping $2,544, or 4.8%
• Long-term unemployed: More than three years into Obama's recovery, 811,000 more still fall into this category than when the recession ended
• Poverty: The poverty rate climbed to 15.1% in 2010, up from 14.3% in 2009, and economists think it may have hit 15.7% last year, highest since the 1960s
• Food stamps: There are 11.8 million more people on food stamps since Obama's recovery started
• Disability: More than 1 million workers have been added to Social Security's disability program in the last three years.
• Gas prices: A gallon of gas cost $1.89 when Obama was sworn in. By June 2009, the price was $2.70. Today, it's $3.84.
• Misery Index: When Obama took office, the combination of unemployment and inflation stood at 7.83. Today it's 9.71.
• Union membership: Even unions are worse off under Obama, with membership dropping half a million between 2009 and 2011
• Debt: Everyone is far worse off if you just look at the national debt. It has climbed more than $5 trillion under Obama, crossing $16 trillion for the first time on Tuesday and driving the U.S. credit rating down.

These are just some of the real issues that count in this election. There are dozens more; of equal importance.

This election should be just as much about political will and courage as it is about competence and a new vision and direction for our country.

We need elected officials in Washington who have the spine to make the tough decisions.

In Bob Woodward’s new book – “The Price of Politics” – we read about a president who is “arrogant, aloof, and unprepared”.

We read that “it was increasingly clear that no one was running Washington and that was trouble for everyone, but especially for Obama”.

Is this the kind of leadership that this nation needs for the next four years?

To quote Clint Eastwood: “When someone does not do the job we got to let them go”.