Look, I'm not about to question either Romney's or Obama's work ethic. Both are successful, apparently Romney exponentially so even though he has a family legacy that may have aided his success, and so one may expect that hard work had something to do with it.

I just know that of these two viewpoints, Obama seems to understand America, while Romney seems to pander to it.

Here's Romney first.

At the heart of this country, its central idea is the idea that in this country, if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to take responsibility, you can make it if you try. That you can find a job that supports a family and find a home you can make your own; that you won’t go bankrupt when you get sick. That maybe you can take a little vacation with your family once in a while — nothing fancy, but just time to spend with those you love. Maybe see the country a little bit, maybe come down to Roanoke. That your kids can get a great education, and if they’re willing to work hard, then they can achieve things that you wouldn’t have even imagined achieving. And then you can maybe retire with some dignity and some respect, and be part of a community and give something back. That’s the idea of America. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It doesn’t matter where you come from. It doesn’t matter what your last name is. You can live out the American Dream. That’s what binds us all together.

It does matter what you look like and it does matter where you came from and it does matter who your daddy is and it does matter … The one thing that frankly doesn't matter is how hard you work. I've seen men and women these last few weeks sweating their asses off working to earn a check to do all those things Romney thinks hard work entitles them to. I also know people who work their asses off and can't even find a job. So no, Mitt. The central idea of America is not hard work.

Here's Obama.

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.

Obama's message is being characterized as being unAmerican. Seems to me, it's spot on.

I have a very good friend who mentioned to me yesterday that this country cannot survive another four years of Obama. I think he's wrong. I am not sure this country could survive a Romney Presidency.

Well, now. Seems as if we've got this engine primed. What say you?

The quotes were lifted from a post by Andrew Sullivan that can be found at the Daily Beast. My link machine appears to be temporarily busted.