One ballot is certain in the 2012 election: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will not be voting for President Barack Obama.
Priebus told a full University Club Feb. 6 that America is in the midst of a battle for economic freedom perpetuated by Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility.
“You can’t sustain a country when you’re about to spend 45 cents on every dollar made in America,” he said at the event, sponsored by the Kennedy Political Union and AU College Republicans. “I happen to believe that a country that has to surrender its sovereignty to its bondholders can’t guarantee prosperity or freedom to anybody. A country that buries its kids and its grandkids in an avalanche of debt can’t rest in any vestige of a moral high ground. A country that has to surrender its sovereignty to China can’t actually compete with China.”
The Wisconsin native said he believes the Republican Party needs to save America from a president who has not delivered on any promises made during his 2008 campaign nor during his first term in office.
According to Priebus, Obama promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term and get the debt under control, but instead has introduced the biggest structural deficit in the history of the world and added $4.5 trillion of debt over three years.
“The question first is whether or not Barack Obama met the standards that he set for himself,” Priebus said in an interview with The Eagle before the event. “He can point the finger all day long at everyone under the sun, but in the end, he’s the CEO of this country. He’s the man in charge.”
Priebus said the president’s economic actions are negatively impacting young voters as well.
He credits college students for caring about the country’s economic future and being in tune with national financial issues.
“The unemployment rate among students and young Americans 24 and younger is a little over 18 percent,” he told The Eagle. “I think that, in order to start a career, you need to have prospects of good-paying jobs in this country.”
Though the chairman acknowledged that beating an incumbent is difficult, he said the GOP is strong and Republican candidates are ready for the challenge.
He made no predictions for who the Party’s presidential nominee will be, but said he will support whoever wins the nomination and believes any of the candidates will fare better in office than Obama.
“I think what we have on our side is a really good debate over how to get our country back on track,” Priebus said in a pre-event interview with ATV. “I think we’ve got great, diverse candidates.”
Priebus said he believes his pride in America, which stems from his childhood with a patriotic Greek grandfather, is a value all U.S. citizens can rally behind during election season.
“I think we’ve all been blessed in different ways, and we’re not going to agree with each other on every little thing … but I think we can agree that we love this country and we want to get this country back on track,” he said. “It’s not in the right place.”
rkaras@theagleonline.com
