Obama to win second term

President Obama will win his second term in November.

That should be a sure thing after events of this week.

I'm not talking about the debate last night where the womanizer gained respect or where the front runner continued to fumble with the issue of his taxes and relating to the disappearing middle class.

I'm talking about the economy. Pundits keep telling us that the economy and jobs are the issues that are important to Americans. But we hear little about solutions to these problems from the candidates; in fact we hear lies. Mitt Romney says the president has no plan for jobs. Jobs bill, Mitt, was the president's plan.


The debates and the Republican primaries have turned into entertainment more than politics. We saw Newt Gingrich try to shift the focus from his indiscretions to the media.

 We saw Ron Paul whining about being ignored on questions that should have been directed to him; questions about health care that the doctor feels qualified to answer. We saw Rick Santorum pleading for recognition after being declared the winner in Iowa and endorsed by evangelicals. And we saw Mitt Romney unable to make a connection with regular Americans over the issue of income taxes.

Seeing the potential Republican candidates in these debates is igniting a fire among the Democratic base and independents who care. So they will turn out in November.

Those antics are reported on the lead pages of newspapers. Buried deeper in the news (page B2 in the Birmingham News) is an article about the economy. Here are the highlights.

"The outlook for hiring has brightened."

"Business travel is up."

"Companies are hiring more."

"Consumer confidence is up."

"More people are buying cars."

"Factories are making more goods."

"Bank lending is on the rise."

"Fewer people sought unemployment benfits last week than at any time in nearly four years."

"Union Pacific...transported more cars, oil, industrial parts and chemicals in the final quarter of 2011."

"JPMorgan Chase...said its lending to businesses rose 12% in the October - December quarter."

These are all indicators of an economy taking off. And this growth will continue through the spring and summer, propelling Obama to a win, because the economy will still be perceived as fragile, and the risk of changing leadership will seem too great for voters to choose Romney or Gingrich or whoever the Republican nominee turns out to be.

So for the next few months we will continue to be entertained by the Republican candidates and their ex-wives and their tax returns. In late summer we will enjoy the grandiosity of the Democrat and Republican Conventions, seeing an outdoor acceptance speech which is already generating prayers for rain from conservatives (we've seen this before) and the possibility of a brokered (not broken) convention, with lots of history about such conventions of the past.

Then there will be some debates between Obama and someone, which will be a lot different from these clown shows we are watching now, regardless of who the candidate is.

But in November the voters will choose Obama to serve a second term.

Enjoy President Obama singing a little Al Green last night at the Apollo.