I use to be perplexed as to how America elected President a man, who on his Father(s) side, lacks the generations of roots in America, a mysterious past, and what we know about his past (from his own words) an affiliation and leaning towards a government system unlike our own (Marxism). Somebody who's greatest mentor during childhood was not his Father or one of our great American heroes - but rather a self acclaimed communist who supported and believed in the ways of our greatest enemy Russia. Frank Marshal Davis.  I use to question how did America, with all the great men and women leaders in her country, allow someone without demonstrated loyalty and ancestral history to become her leader.

I am no longer perplexed and as unfortunate as it is I think I now understand how this happened.  It is now evident to me, there exists a large faction of Americans (probably 30% or greater) who believe that our America is the cause of poverty, oppression, and pain in the world. That by diminishing the influence of America in the world will assist in lifting up others in the world and create a more equal quality of life for all.  Prior to the Great War and World War II - they were called isolationist, post the Wars they were called Communist and during the Civil Rights Era they were conglomerated into what is now called Progressives.

It was this faction that brought Barrack Obama into the public spot light in 2004 at the Democratic Convention and then with the help of his significant oratory ability, handsome appearance, likability, and timing was able to convince the politically and historically uninformed (those who vote on sound bites and emotions) to vote for him in 2008 based on a moderate agenda of uniting the parties, improving America's global reputation, and cleaning up the politics here at home.

In the coming 2012 election, many who voted (including African Americans, Jewish, and Union Members) for Barrack Obama have seen that President Obama's agenda was not what he communicated, but rather something larger that is difficult to understand on the surface of politics.  His decisions are influenced by a World perspective rather than an American one.  A perspective that comes from his roots, the roots of his Fathers and their generations. 

The decision in 2012 comes down to whether we regain our footing and continue down the path of believing we should make America great so she can use her wealth for good in the world ( e.g. Aids Relief in Africa, Disaster Relief, supporting human rights, etc.).   The alternative decision is to lesson her influence and create a vacuum for a new world power to rise - the options of who will fill that vacuum are ominous and do not need mentioned here.  This path minimizes the importance of American individual wealth and the short lived illusion of transferring this wealth evenly here in America is just tactic which results in the ultimate goal.  You see, if you remove the wealth from the people - then the wealthy people take their wealth elsewhere.  Without the wealthy we lose tax revenue and private sector jobs.  We begin to look a lot more like many other countries in the world and the vacuum of a world power for good disappears for good.

So, in summary, based on my calculations we have about half the country who believes we should continue to support our traditional country's ideology which is American Exceptionalism.  We should correct problems as they arise and utilize the power of government to do so (regulation and social safety nets), we should keep a strong defense with the goal of peace while eliminating the corruption and spending issues in all government programs (including defense spending).  We should continue to adjust, modify, tweak and do these things sparingly - we should not fundamentally change what we are doing.

Author's Note:

America has made mistakes.  It is lead by men and women who are easily corrupted and persuaded.  There are many examples in America's history where she chose evil instead of good.  It is important to understand that these are the exceptions and we as a Country have corrected and identified these exceptions.  Our impact of good in the world overwhelmingly exceed these exceptions where we swayed from the path.  I am a hobby historian and I believe we should educate our children of our past and what America has done for the world.  In the same light, I also believe we should not forget those times we made the wrong decisions and not run from them - but rather educate our children of these events and how we corrected our path and made ourselves a better Country by doing so.