Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Dawn Dale (Readers Write, Jan. 12) says President Obama is not a leader. Apparently, she has compared him to other presidents and he has come up wanting. I wonder which ones she used. George H.W. Bush declared, "Read my lips: No new taxes." But there were tax increases. George W. Bush told us we had to go to war in Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction. But there were none. Is lying to the American people a sign of leadership? I think not.

Barack Obama ran for the presidency wanting to change the way Washington worked. He saw gridlock in Congress and hoped to bring common sense and compromise to the pressing issues we faced. Even though overwhelmingly elected, he was told by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell that the main objective of the Republican Congress was to make sure he had only four years in office. His ideas were dismissed out of hand; Republicans became the party of NO.

While Americans suffered, Republicans again and again refused to pass bills that would put people back to work. They derided the bank bailout despite the fact that had the banks been allowed to fail, the entire world would have gone into a depression. Republicans shouted, "Let the car companies fail. That’s the way the free market works." When the housing bubble burst, Republicans said "No new regulations!"

Well, the free market wasn’t working and President Obama succeeded in bringing the car companies back, saved us from a deep depression and improved the job market. During the last few years of George W. Bush’s presidency, over four million jobs were lost and $1 trillion was spent on the Iraq War. President Barack Obama has brought our military out of Iraq, killed the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and over two million jobs have been recovered. Even the housing industry is beginning to improve. I believe that is leadership.

Ms. Dale accuses President Obama of arrogance, failing to respect our Constitution, and lacking moral values. Republicans are presently taking part in primaries and caucuses to pick a candidate to run against Barack Obama. And who have they got? A thrice-married, twice-admitted adulterer who believes that, as president, he can bring members of another branch of government (Supreme Court justices) before Congress to explain their decisions. Uh? Then there is the strict Catholic who wants to see the Bible taught in schools, a violation of church and state. But wait, there’s the multi-millionaire who can’t get the vote of the Christian Right because he is a Mormon. So unless the GOP comes up with someone better than those guys, Ms. Dale better get used to Barack Obama.

Kathryne Thompson

Gloucester, Va.