AS I MADE plans to watch the third and final presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Ro

Collections cheap air plane tickets Mitt Romney Ronnie Polaneczky: Why I couldn't write a debate column October 24, 2012 | By Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist Students at Tulane University in New Orleans watch the third presidential debate between (ASSOCIATED PRESS )
AS I MADE plans to watch the third and final presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, I figured I'd end up writing a sly column about all I've learned from all these televised performances, including the Joe Biden and Paul Ryan hoedown.
I'd analyze the candidates' facial contortions, the sizes of their flag pins and their stances at the podiums. Then I'd make a faux informed observation about how this stuff might impact those swingin' Ohio voters.
I'd share how hearing Biden use the word "malarkey" pulled me down Memory Lane, because malarkey was one of my Irish mom's favorite words. She used to tell her nine kids that we were full of the stuff.
I'd make an ironic quip about how ladies used to be sealed in girdles back in the '50s but these days are tucked inside binders. cheap air plane tickets And how Big Bird must be feeling as skittish as a turkey on Thanksgiving morning. And that the funniest tweet I'd read about the vice-presidential debate was this one from TV writer Morgan cheap air plane tickets Murphy: "Biden's teeth are so white they're voting for Romney." So, hah-hah, right?
A funny thing happened, though, on my way to clever. I got sick of it. I got fed up with the trivializing tweets and weird parodies, the parsing over of verbal and physical tics and expressions as if they matter. They don't.
What matters is that, in two weeks, we'll elect a president whose policies will directly impact our families, our schools, our neighborhoods, our wallets, our health, our security and our standing in the world. And the two men vying for the job could not be more different when it comes to who they think deserve to be included in the word "our." Romney made it clear, in his remark about the 47 percent of Americans who are "dependent on government" and see themselves as victims, that there is no "our" in his vision for America. His vision cheap air plane tickets has an "us" - those who enjoy tremendous luck - and a "them" - those who are down on it. And if he's elected, his policies will do more to widen the divide between the two.
What Romney has had from birth, and what he takes for granted, is a level of well-being that 99 percent of Americans will never know. His wealth has allowed him to put miles of distance between himself and the potential for disaster. And his stunning lack of empathy blinds him to those who aren't so fortunate.
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