w V - :w w w 4B -. - SOcobr S,202 / -heStte en WenedaOcobr31 212/ Te tteen B I've never met Mitt Romney PERSONAL STATEMENT by Andrew Weiner Politics at the diner by Zach Bergson I've never met Mitt Romney. He might have noticed me in Iowa when he took the stage in the middle of a manufacturing plant during the hellish slap-fest that Republicans called "primary season." The GOP nominee might' have seen me standing there, silently judging the conservatives I was packed in with. To call the audience shoulder-to-shoulder would be an understatement. It was really more of a mosh pit around a stage - a boring, all white, mostly stationary mass of people who probably didn't know what "mosh pit" meant and would surely disapprove of the term if they knew, but a mosh pit nonetheless. The signature anger was there. A round woman in light jeans made passive-aggressive comments behind me to her husband, whisper- ing, "you'd think someone so tall would have been courteous and stood in the back," just purposefully loud enough for me to hear. Or maybe she thought my ears were so high up the words wouldn't travel. You'd think someone so short would have gotten there earlier. Mitt barreled onto stage 30 minutes late. (A true diva knows how to keep an audience wait- ing and anxious.) A long, slow ramp resembling a runway took Romney from a staging area into the warehouse-like space the thousand spectators were corralled into. His sons and wife, Ann, were waiting for him on a circular stage at the end of the ramp. A Bieber-fever like reaction erupted from the crowd at the sight of their hero, their answer to the evil man who singlehandedly ruined the America they once knew and loved - but still believed could be great again. After being slowed by hundreds of hands reaching out to touch their messiah and feel what made his skin holier than thou, Mitt reached his handsome family, who, for some reason, seemed surprised to see him. "Honey!" I imagined Ann exclaiming, "Are all these peo- ple - are they here to see you?" The crowd fell silent at their president's request. It seemed silly to address him as any- thing else. We call past presidents by their title, so why not future ones? I've never met Mitt Romney. In fact, I'm almost positive he didn't notice me that flat Iowa evening. Amid the sea of white, I hadn't noticed that the short woman had wedged her- self past me only to realize she was still shorter than the near-40 people who stood between her and the stage that the Romneys' actual,real feet were touching. She must have still wished to trade bodies with one of the folks whose longest finger touched the cuff of Mitt's jeans during his catwalk up. Still, by the transitive property of mosh pit bodies, she was on stage with him. I hope she couldn't see a damn thing. I've never met Mitt Romney. Over the course of the last year or so, I've read tens of thousands of words about him - most by people who have only heard his voice through a speaker system. But I've never had a conversation with the man. Not now, and not before he was a world- touring celebrity. On Aug. 21, People magazine interviewed his then-new running mate, Paul Ryan. "Any low-brow pleasures, like 'The Real House- wives?' " the interviewer asked him. I don't like People magazine. Maybe previously I'd have said "hate," but I have since learned the word should be reserved for things that actu- ally make the world a significantly worse place. I hate oil spills. People may make some read- ers insecure about their bodies, but it certainly isn't worth hating. It's mostly just creepy. I understand the entertainment industry's economy is dependent on the market forces of "celebrity." But it's strange that hundreds of thousands of people care what a person they've never met, and can statistically reason never will, named their child or wore while ordering tacos. I've never met Barack Obama. I saw the president when he came to Ann Arbor in Janu- ary. He seems like a nice guy. By most accounts he is. His smile doesn't look like it was surgi- cally implanted on a chiseled stone fade and masks post-surgery pain. Barack Obama didn't ask Republicans to campaign on what has to be the most money ever spent in human history to ruin one man's reputation. But neither did Mitt Romney. They're both playing along, sure, most politicians are - but this can't be the race either respectable man wanted. Yes, the 47-percent comment was bad, and it's difficult to fault those who don't pay much in federal taxes for worrying about a Romney presidency. Yes, Republicans rake in - more contributions from big business. Yes, their policy reflects less concern about U.S. income inequality, but it's a stretch to take the gaffe as more than another in the echo chamber. In September, Sen. John McCain said the best advice he had for the candidates is to stay rest- ed: "Don't get so fatigued that you lose your temper or say something stupid." Get some rest, gentlemen. We've circled back to a national mood where gut feeling based on likeability or lies has replaced numbers, experts and logic - and party politics encourages such substitutions. It's not that expensive to convince the unin- formed to vote for their favorite pair of celebri- ties. It's creepy that Joe Biden can't eat an ice cream cone without 17 news outlets forsak- ing traditional fact checking to be the first to report the red-to-pink-sprinkle ratio. Like People magazine, America will still be here in 2016. Our president has not ruined our country. The Obama administration - which consists of thousands of highly intelligent people, not a single man controlling every deci- sion - hasn't fixed every American ailment. If they did, it'd be unprecedented; on a macro level, four years is four minutes. And contrary to conventional liberal sentiment, if elected, Mitt Romney will not ruin the country. Amer- ica isn't on its deathbed, and it would take far longer than four years, botched or otherwise, to land there. America deserves better than a People magazine election. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama deserve better than having their basic moral character judged as a lazy alternative to their policy - by voters who really don't know them fundamentally as people and never will. There are highly intelligent Republicans. There are highly intelligent Democrats. Both deserve better than blanket hatred and dismissal. I've never met Mitt Romney. I certainly dis- agree with many of his policy positions, and I'm probably not going to vote for him. But a bad guy? Months ago, standing in that Iowa warehouse, I looked at him and said, "Yes, a bad guy." In hindsight, I was standing way too far from that stage to see a thing. Andrew Weiner is a Public Policy junior and the managing editor for The Michigan Daily. The city of Ann Arbor is as liberal as it gets. Ann Arbor hasn't had a Republi- can mayor in 12 years, and the last time the city voted for a Republican president was back in 1984.Even in the 10-person city coun- cil, a Republican hasn't held office since 2003. Despite Tree City's liberal voting record, it's difficult to put in words what drives Ann Arbor's voting decisions. Is it the city's liber- al-minded atmosphere? Background? Educa- tion? Upbringing? But what about Ann Arbor residents who aren't affiliated with the Univer- sity? Are they driven by the same issues that University students and faculty hold dear? In an election that has been so focused on larger- than-life figures and intricate policies, these questions often go unasked. Sometimes it's easy to forget that, in the end, this election will be decided by ordinary people. Without administering a Gallup poll, I thought the clearest barometer of the Ann Arbor psyche could be found at Fleetwood Diner. Open 24/7, Fleetwood acts as a micro- cosm of this city, where students, faculty and townies gather to trade stories and dis- cuss issues. At any time of the day, you can find all walks of life eating "Hippie Hash" in Fleetwood's tiny, greasy, sticker-filled space. I thought spending time talking to patrons at Fleetwood could give me the closest thing to a random sample poll of Ann Arbor residents. 2:25 p.m. Tia Gough, 20, has an easy smile. Turning her head, her eyes follow an elderly man in worn-out jeans who had the telltale signs of a wedgie. "That ain't hot," Gough says with a grin. But despite Gough's quick propensity to laugh, the Ypsilanti resident is tired. After graduating from Pioneer High School two years ago, Gough rented out aone-bedroom. apartment in Ypsilanti. To keep up with her rent, she began to work multiple jobs: one as a who he'd support. teacher's assistant in second and third grade classrooms, another asa cleaning lady. But these jobs still aren't enough to keep up with the bills - "bills on top of bills on top of bills," as she puts it. It only takes a f Gough is constantly looking for work. She with University L repeatedly checks her phone throughout our Hugh Manahan t conversation, expecting a call ffom a potential educated. They b client. why they are sup And on top of her financial pressures, Gough Frank Act, health is working toward a degree at Washtenaw Ryan-reformed-M Community College. Though she doesn't have "I'm voting for a major yet, Gough is determined to get her to do with this el degree so she can get out of Michigan. understand his po "Of course, I want to go to California," she may be frustrated says. She has her sights set on a fashion school offers a construct in Los Angeles. Manahan says: Gough cites financial and time constraints of Dodd-Frank ar as the main reason why she isn't voting in this like capital requ election. She says she has shied away from money banks hav keeping up with the election issues because ments." she has so many stressors in her personal life Roth, 24, is a D already. And because she hasn't had the time to han, 25, graduate develop an informed opinion, Gough says she'd sity in Washingto rather not vote. their family backg "I've got no time; I don't got the time," she es at school have n stresses, repeatedly. vote Democratic o When pressed, Gough says if she were "I don't favor p participating on Nov. 6, she'd vote for Presi- ocratic; I vote Den dent Barack Obama. But even this hypotheti- tain policies," Ma cal situation seems to bring her discomfort. Manahan says h The thought of her candidate losing, she says, Georgetown leans makes her feel like her vote wouldn't count. factors haven't in She cites this nervousness as another reason They ask me w why she isn't going to vote. Fleetwood patror Her companions at Fleetwood, Darien Scott about how Gough and Anthony Ellis, also say they don't plan on on voting because voting. Both of them; Ellis, a recent Pioneer High Schoolgraduate, understand why has a legitimate excuse - he's only 17. choose not to vot And Scott, Gough's close friend from high tion period. school, says he would vote if he had registered It would be nea on time. But the 19-year-old says he has diffi- dent not to vote,: culties keeping up withthe issues and isn't sure Law students s few minutes of conversation Law students Will Roth and to tell that they are highly oth give intricate details of porting Obama: the Dodd- care vouchers under a Paul [edicare, election cycles. Obama, and it has nothing lection cycle," Roth says. "I licy failures and why people d, but I don't think Romney ive alternative to those." "Some of the core stances e fundamentally important, irements about how much e on hand to back up invest- artmouth grad, while Mana- d from Georgetown Univer- n, D.C. They both agree that rounds and their experienc- not defined their decisions to on Nov. 6. rlicies because they're Dem- mocratic because I favor cer- nahan explains. his father is conservative and right. But he adds that these fluenced his decision. vhat sort of responses other ns are giving. I tell them and her friends didn't plan they say they're busy. are taken aback. They don't anyone would purposefully e, or even miss the registra- rly impossible for a law stu- Roth and Manahan explain. ;end them endless e-mails Travis Hughes and Grace Trinidad are both enrolled in the University's School of Public Health. Hughes has blond hair and blue eyes and sports a white and blue beanie on his head. Trinidad has dark hair and is wearing a brown-suede jacket adorned with fluffy white wool. Hughes is from Oklahoma, a state he says is as "red as it gets." He went to a Christian school and grew up in a very socially conserva- tive environment. But Hughes says he has defi- nitely drifted away from his Republican roots. "I think there are a lot of sincere people in Oklahoma who believe deeply in faith and freedom and all of these things that are entan- gled with politics," he says. "There's definitely a cozy relationship between faith and politics that is unhealthy." Prior to coming to Ann Arbor, Hughes worked for a Tea Party think tank. Joining up with an organization that he disagreed with fundamentally, he says, was the only way to get involved in policy in Oklahoma. "I was never a Tea Party faithful; I was always a closet Democrat," he says. "(The Republican party) is the only place you can do policy work in Oklahoma." Hughes and Trinidad are firmly in the Obama camp. Trinidad points to Obama's health care law as a major selling point for her in making her decision, especially since she's going into public health. Despite their firm support of Obama, both of them say they have become disillusioned with the president. "Sometimes I think it would be better if Romney won because I think people would get pissed off enough that they would actually do something," Hughes explains. reminding them to register and emphasize the civic duty that everyone has to vote, they say. 7:30 p.m. Midnight