“A vote for revenge”? Pretty powerful words!

These aren’t my words. They are the words of a man who thinks he is entitled to a second term as President of the United States.

In 2008, candidate Barrack Obama invoked the name of Ronald Reagan as an example of how a president could “change the trajectory of America”.

Obama promised to change the “trajectory” of our nation in a transparent, pragmatic, and bipartisan manner.

At that time, many Americans viewed Barrack Obama as a historic figure. He seemed to be intelligent, he displayed masterful political skills, and most of all, he appeared to have empathy with the middle class and the poor.

For many Americans, the mere advent of Barrack Obama as president would put our nation on a sound economic and financial footing and improve America’s image abroad.

A clear majority of American voters elected Barrack Obama, a man with little practical experience, to the most challenging job in the world.

Four years later, an embattled Barrack Obama is seeking re-election. His case for re-election has been weak. What would one expect? His record has been weak.

Americans deserve better from our national leaders than the current lower standards of living.

Obama has failed to provide the leadership necessary to create an environment to improve the lot of the middle class and poor. By all credible accounts, our standard of living has eroded over the past four years.

Largely due to Obama’s policies, many Americans no longer regard their country as a land of opportunity and upward mobility. Instead, Obama has set a course for this country that shrinks the power of the individual and establishes dependency on government as the new national norm.

Obama has set America on a course that is based on the premise that prosperity is created by a strong central government. As a consequence, our government has grown in size.

To continue down this path, Obama has convinced many Americans that the “wealthy” need to pay more taxes – their “fair” share.

He has deliberately divided this country between the rich and the poor. What many people don’t realize is that to fund Obama’s current “trajectory” of big government, taxes will have to be raised on the middle class. Obama has no other solution.

Obama’s divisive leadership has left this country so politically paralyzed that real progress on any of the important issues confronting this nation is almost impossible. One has to wonder just how long a paralyzed nation can survive.

On foreign policy, Barrack Obama’s record has been one of embarrassment and failure. Our allies don’t trust us and our enemies don’t fear us. Our reputation abroad has been diminished, not strengthened. Many nations now regard America as weak and passive.

President Obama has profoundly miscalculated the world we live in and the threats that we face to the point that it has become virtually impossible for anyone to clearly understand what constitutes America’s vital interests.

Obama’s “lead from behind” foreign policy has been built upon the failed strategy of “hope”. Hope that we will be accepted in the world and hope that we won’t be attacked. This has proven to be a naïve and failed policy.

Al Qaeda has not been “decimated” as Obama claims. Sure, there have been some important successes – not the least of which is the killing of Osama bin Laden – the symbol of the organization.

Yet, the Benghazi tragedy proved that the tide of radical Islam continues to rise throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Yemen, and South Asia. Iran is closer to developing nuclear capabilities and Egypt is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.

During the past four years, Obama skillfully created a grand illusion of responsible, bipartisan leadership.

Bob Woodward summed up Obama’s leadership quite correctly in his book “The Price of Politics” when he described Obama as “arrogant, aloof, and unprepared.”

Perhaps Joe Biden said it even better during a recent campaign event when he stated: "There's never been a day in the last four years I've been proud to be his vice president."

Thank you Mr. Vice President. I think many Americans would agree that it has been difficult to state with any degree of confidence that we are “proud” of Barrack Obama’s failed record of leadership.

In 2008, many of us voted for Obama even though he was an unknown quantity. Now, after almost four years of failed leadership, the fact that Barrack Obama is all too familiar to many Americans will be cause for rejecting him this time around.

The time has come for America to choose a different course. It is truly time to change the trajectory of our country.

No, Mr. President, I am not voting against you out of “revenge”. I am casting my vote for genuine change, reform, and transparency.

You gave it your best Mr. President; but your best just wasn’t good enough. I am holding you accountable for your record.