We’ve all had our English teachers hound us about writing an outline for papers. When those outlines aren’t required, two types of students appear: those that write them and those that don’t. Obama is the first: the one that has their paper written ahead of time, edited multiple times, and most importantly had that outline ready and detailed. Romney says “Oh, I have a general idea of what I’m going to write later. I’ll be fine!” but stays up until 3 AM the night before it’s due because he sat and stared at a blank document for half the night, wracking his brain for ideas. While our nation’s future certainly isn’t set in stone and won’t follow an outline perfectly, it’s always nice to have a set of directions to help us along the way.

President Obama had a plan that he’s stuck to the best he could under unforeseeable circumstances, and has done a great job of informing our country on his work and listening to what us citizens have to say. This has all gone into his next outline, and he’s ready to get an A+ in his next term with what he has prepared.
First paragraph: our economy. It still isn’t great, but it’s getting better. I like to think that President Obama is on the second draft of his final paper. Things are working, but there’s still a few things to fix before it’s ready to go. A consolidated tax code, reducing cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and most importantly, investments in our future in areas like education and energy are going to keep our nation on that nice outline that Obama was happy to show us. Obama’s economic plan could be compared to an assessment for learning class – long term improvement is better than short term fixes. He’s gearing up for a big conclusion and Romney doesn’t even know what evidence he’s going to use for his claims. He’ll cut taxes on the rich, focus on energy independence by drilling in federally protected wildlife areas per his agreement with the Keystone pipeline, build trade agreements, and repeal Obamacare and so much more. But I see no specifics and if there are numbers, they sure don’t add up. He’s running on the fact that he’ll create 12 million new jobs. I wrote about this in one of my first columns – Moody’s Analytics has said that no matter who’s elected these will be created. So what will Romney’s plan really create? He’s got those comments on his paper like – So where are you going with this? and Because?

And for all us students, what really is important is the candidates’ views on social issues. I like to think that the majority of us can agree that gay marriage shouldn’t even be an issue. And while lots of Republicans are totally cool with gay marriage and say that Romney’s ideas are extreme, it doesn’t change the fact that if Romney is elected, the ridiculously long journey to LGBT rights will be ground to a halt. As for women’s health, Obama won’t turn over Roe V. Wade – which doesn’t state that abortion is OK, but rather that choice is allowed. The fact that Romney wants to overturn this historic case and put it in state hands acknowledges that we have choice, but we don’t really get to exercise it.

And in a totally different category, college spending. Obama doubled the Pell Grant money and capped federal loan repayment at 10% of a person’s income. Mitt Romney’s website says that he will “strengthen and simplify the financial aid system” by welcoming private sector participation and replacing regulation with competition. Obama has numbers and Romney his claims, but no specifics.

What grade would you give Mitt Romney? Because I think I’d give him an F. He’s got no outline, vague evidence and is hypocritical in his warrants. I want to know there’s a plan, that we as a country are going to go somewhere, and when Obama is re-elected, we’re going to be in a great track to success. And of course, he’ll be seeing that nice big A+ on the top of his paper.