With this being a presidential election year we are going to be doing something a little different here at The Northerner. Since we are college students, we should be paying more attention to our nation’s politics.

For those who do know who the candidates are and what they want to do, congratulations. For those who don’t, well let’s just say you should start to care because sooner or later you will be out of school and in the scary world and the decisions made by politicians will affect you even more. So in other words, pay attention.
There will be political coverage this semester, and no we won’t just be covering the presidential campaigns but also local politics in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, and issues college students should be concerned about.

A good deal went on while we were on summer break so a quick recap is in order.
Let’s see, Mitt Romney became the Republican presidential candidate in May. Ron Paul made a strong push, making it to the final three with Romney and Newt Gingrich but ultimately the former governor of Massachusetts was able to get the nomination over the 75 year old. Romney ran for the Republican spot for the 2008 election but lost to John McCain.

The Republican party didn’t really have anyone else to nominate after the circus of candidates very publicly eliminated themselves. Said circus included former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, who is all kinds of crazy, and Newt Gingrich, who ran out of money during his campaign.

After Romney was nominated and became the Republican presidential candidate his tax returns were called into question by Democrats after only releasing his 2010 return and part of his return for 2011 — which is still being completed. Democrats have been calling to see more but Romney hasn’t budged. Republicans are even speaking up and saying it would be easier if he just released his returns.

It is questionable when a presidential candidate won’t disclose such information to the public. In his 2010 return, Romney’s total income was $21.6 million and $20.9 million in 2011, but that return is still being processed. Then again, I could see why he wouldn’t release more than that.
To compare, President Barack Obama released his returns from 2000-2011 and Joe Biden released his for 1998-2011.

While looking at Romney and his tax returns is fun, the U.S. Supreme Court made headlines, in June, with their 5-4 ruling to uphold the health care law put in place in 2010. The law will help Americans in getting medical care, which for Democrats is good but some Republicans think government should stay out of medical care.
The ruling made false headlines as well when Fox News and CNN rushed to get out “breaking news” when the two 24 hour news outlets “reported” that the justices voted down the health care law. Both networks were left with egg on their face after embarrassing corrections were made later on in the day.

To close out this very short recap out, Mitt Romney named his running mate last week and it is none other than…Paul Ryan. Yeah, I didn’t know who he was either.
Ryan is a congressman from Wisconsin that was a curveball of a pick by Romney. Ryan is a young conservative who wants to cut income tax rates, make Medicare private, make the food stamp and Medicaid programs smaller and give control back to the states.

Like John McCain four years ago, Romney went young with his running mate while Obama decided to stick with good old Joe Biden. The republican party could be preparing Paul Ryan for a run at the presidency in 2016 but anything could happen from now until then.

It will be interesting to see what the democrats do for the 2016 election because Biden will be a little old to attract the voters needed, even though he has been a great asset to Obama during his presidency.

Biden’s use was put on display when he responded to comments made by Romney at the NAACP 103rd Annual Convention in July. When Biden spoke he was Obama’s cheerleader listing off the accomplishments the president has done during his time in office.

Give it to Romney for giving a speech at the convention in the first place but what he said was a mistake–he was booed by the crowd when he said he would repeal Obama’s health care law. Romney’s speech left himself open to attack from the opposite side, which is what happened. His speech wasn’t aimed at those in attendance but rather towards his supporters and possible supporters watching live.

This presidential race is going to get more interesting in the coming months. The mudslinging is already getting heavy and dirty, on both sides with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Does Romney have a chance at winning? Yes, he has a chance but he won’t win. He is too separated from the people he needs to vote for him, the people that don’t make $20 million a year.