Over the past four years and even before that, President Barack Obama has been shielded from the scrutiny that any other presidential candidate or president would endure. Questions about his radical past andd such scandals as "Fast and Furious," Solyndra and security leaks were largely swept aside by media that didn't think character, competence or corruption were news if the subject was a Democrat.

Now, after the debates with Mitt Romney, Obama has been exposed as the empty chair Clint Eastwood portrayed him as at the GOP convention. And the biased media can no longer cover it up.

Standing next to Romney, Obama looked small as he repeated the same tired promises for change that propelled him to office but have turned out to be hollow dreams. After four years of excuses, who believes him when he says that next time he'll get it done?

Obama's attacks on Romney cannot hide his failed record. And like the classic "emperor has no clothes," all of a sudden the nagging doubts in the minds of voters from the last four years have crystallized. The old Obama magic doesn't work anymore.

Michael Miller

Bluffton