OPINION
Contact us David Fong is the executive editor of the Troy Daily News. You can reach him at 440-5228 or send him e-mail at fong@tdn publishing.com.
2010 Saturday,XXXday, April 14,XX, 2012 •5
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In Our View Troy Daily News Editorial Board FRANK BEESON / Group Publisher DAVID FONG / Executive Editor
ONLINE POLL
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Question: If the election were today, would you vote for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Watch for final poll results in Sunday’s Miami Valley Sunday News.
Watch for a new poll question in Sunday’s Miami Valley Sunday News.
PERSPECTIVE
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — First Amendment, U.S. Constitution
ANALYSIS
Obama’s incumbency vs. Romney’s hurdles WASHINGTON (AP) — Reality smacked Mitt Romney in the face twice in a 24-hour span. President Barack Obama used the power of the presidency to ring the general election’s opening bell, declaring this week in no uncertain terms that he and his mammoth organization are ready to take on Romney whether the presumptive GOP nominee is ready or not. And despite what he may say, Romney is not. The former Massachusetts governor, who won three more primaries Tuesday and is on track to claim his party’s presidential nomination in June if not before, is facing a challenge of historic proportions. Just one Republican Ronald Reagan has defeated a Democratic incumbent president in the last century. And Romney faces an incumbent with five times more staff, 10 times more money, and the world’s greatest bully pulpit. Using that platform Tuesday, the president criticized Romney by name, telling news executives at the annual meeting of The Associated Press that his likely general election opponent supported a “radical” Republican budget plan he characterized as “thinly veiled social Darwinism.” He accused Republican leaders of becoming so extreme that even Reagan, one of the party’s most cherished heroes, would not win a GOP primary today. The president’s critique came just one day after his campaign launched a TV ad in six general election battleground states that suggested that Romney stood with “Big Oil.” And it all comes amid a Democratic effort to paint Romney as part of a Republican Party that Obama’s party is casting as too conservative for the country. Romney hit back after he won primaries in Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, telling cheering supporters in Milwaukee that the president has become “a little out of touch” after “years of flying around on Air Force One, surrounded by an adoring staff of true believers telling you that you’re great and you’re doing a great job.” Added Romney, “You know, out-of-touch liberals like Barack Obama say they want a strong economy, but in everything they do, they show they don’t like business very much.” With that, the contours of the general election were set and the attack lines unveiled. Each candidate cast the other as too extreme for the center of the country speaking directly to the independents who play a critical role in general elections because they determine who wins close races. The number of independent voters in America has swelled. That means they are a top target for both candidates in what Republican and Democratic operatives alike anticipate will be a close election for reasons that include the country’s increasingly polarized nature. As the incumbent, Obama has a built-in advantage and a huge head start. He has spent months wooing the center of the electorate even as he worked to fire up his Democratic base. Romney has a ton of ground to make up. And, even though he’s been eager to shift his campaign to focus on fundraising, building and advertising for the general election, he doesn’t have the luxury of doing that in earnest just yet. His stubborn Republican opponents, inspired by anti-Romney skepticism from the right flank of the party, aren’t letting him. And that means Romney will continue for a while at least to be at least marginally distracted by an intra-party contest whose outcome has never really been in question.
LETTERS The Oregonian, Portland, on an online consumer privacy bill of rights: As politicians hunker down for a long, bipolar year producing little, citizen-consumers get no vacation from the need to protect their privacy online. Global Payments, which processes transactions for Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express, revealed that hackers had stolen 1.5 million credit card numbers. The company acknowledged the breach at least two weeks after it happened. Across the pond, British citizens find their calls, texts,
emails, web searches and other presumably private transactions in the sights of the government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron has said it is “vital” for his government to be able to monitor such behavior to stop serious crime and terrorism. While many cases of the sharing of individual data occur with the consent of people who “opt in,” others demonstrate the persistent erosion of rights and privileges for individuals who don’t control their personal information. The U.S. Congress, not sur-
prisingly, is of two minds about all this. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle support legislation addressing cybersecurity and mandating prompt notification of consumers involved in data breaches … there is much to like about the idea of such a bill, which would grant consumers the right to understand and control the use of their personal information by companies with access to it. … In an election year, an online consumer privacy bill isn’t likely to gain traction. But the threats to individual privacy online are rising.
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DOONESBURY
The 27 things I wish I’d learned before turning 27 Well friends, today marks a very important event in all of our lives. On April 14, 1985, at exactly 6:09 a.m. (or something like that, it was early and probably the last time I’d ever be that alert that early in the morning) I was born. With 27 years under my belt, I can’t help but look back over the years and both laugh and scoff at some of the things I’ve had to learn, refused to learn and am still trying to learn. So while we’re celebrating 27 years of me still being alive, I’d like to offer 27 things I wish I had learned before turning 27. For starters, it’s OK to not know what I want to be when I grow up — yet. The key is to never stop trying to figure it out. Find your passion and never, ever stop doing it. Make big plans, even if you’re not going to follow through with them and go to Canada with your best friends at least once. Unfortunately, some girls will never stop being girls. It doesn’t matter if we’re 15 or 50; some women will forever live in high school (complete with their drinking binges, scandalous
Amanda Stewart Troy Daily News Columnist clothing and boyfriend-stealing ways). Learn your lesson and be done with them. People like that will only bring you down. Everyone will let you down. People you love, will disappoint you and you will disappoint them. This is OK. Learn when to forgive and when to forget. Learn when to stay and know when to walk away. Tequila will never, ever, ever, ever, result in anything good. Never. Ever. If a guy likes you, he will call, because he won’t be able to stand not calling you. Taking shots of 151 on your birthday with your roommate might make you feel cool when you’re doing it, but you will feel
anything but cool the morning after. People will surprise you. Let them, they could be the best thing to happen to your life. No one will ever love me more than my parents. I will never, ever love anyone more than my daughter (and any subsequent children), except for maybe my parents. Some people aren’t meant to be in your life forever. Love hard, enjoy every waking minute and when they leave, be thankful for their footprint. Always tell someone if you love them. Even if it’s not reciprocated, even if it’s just puppy love, even if it’s the completely wrong person, you tell them. Always. Throw life’s rules out the window. Marry your one-night stand, fall in love after three weeks and get hitched in Vegas. Or don’t. The point is to make your own rules, not follow what you think you’re supposed to do. Love your best friends, all of them. It's OK to have different ones; you need them all for different things. My best mom friends understand me in a way
my best college friends cannot; and my college friends remind me of the me I used to be and love the me I am now. For this, I am eternally grateful. Go to Oregon at least once in your life. Believe me, it’s worth the cost of plane tickets Define your own standards of beauty and quit feeling bad about size 12 jeans. You’re beautiful. Watch less television, cook more and eat your veggies. And ice berg lettuce does not count as a salad. It’s water in leaf form. Write more letters and always send thank you cards. People appreciate the little things. And lastly, wear really tall high heels if you want to (even if you’re already tall), get your septum pierced (even if you’re 27 and a mom), dye your hair green (even if you’re 29 and a mom) and go to punk rock concerts when you’re 39. Or don’t. Just be you and own every bit of it.
Troy Troy Daily News
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FRANK BEESON Group Publisher
DAVID FONG Executive Editor
LEIANN STEWART Retail Advertising Manager
CHERYL HALL Circulation Manager
BETTY BROWNLEE Business Manager
SCARLETT SMITH Graphics Manager
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Amanda Stewart appears Saturdays in the Troy Daily News.
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