Sen. Coburn endorses Romney

A byline article in today's Oklahoman, Senator Tom Coburn endorses Mitt Romney for President.

Senator Coburn writes:

America faces the greatest challenges of any in my lifetime. Our debt is now the size of our entire economy. If we don't change course in the near future, we will face an economic catastrophe far worse than our recent recession.

At the same time, we're facing a crisis of leadership in Washington. The problems and solutions are widely understood — and far from impossible to implement — yet our so-called leaders have shown little interest in solving problems. President Obama campaigned as a transformational leader, yet he has rejected transformational solutions such as the Simpson-Bowles plan that gave Washington a framework for averting a debt crisis.

Elections are about choices. This November, the most important choice facing the American people will be whether we will demand a solution and avert a debt crisis or whether we will continue to accept the status quo and hope for the best. I'm confident the vast majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle want a solution. The next choice, then, is deciding who is best qualified to enact a solution.

In life, and especially politics, our choices are seldom perfect and often difficult. But it is critically important to make a choice and support the person who is best equipped to solve the urgent problems before us. In my view, that person is Mitt Romney.

From my experience, Washington tends to be divided between two groups — leaders and career politicians. Leaders tend to have a wealth of real-world experience outside of politics and are in office to give rather than take something from their position. Career politicians, on the other hand, mean well but are ill-equipped to solve problems. Their greatest skill is getting re-elected.

I'm proud to support Romney because he is a leader. What Romney has done in his 25 years in the private sector is precisely what we need a president to do in Washington. Romney has done hard things. He has turned businesses around, told people hard truths about what needed to be done, inspired confidence and overcome excuses. Romney is not a career politician or a career legislator. As a former governor and business leader, he is an executive who knows how to use executive power.

My endorsement is in no way an instruction on how Oklahomans should vote. Yet having served with the other candidates, I do know something about the field. Each candidate has admirable qualities. However, on too many occasions I have seen each behave like career politicians rather than leaders. The most important test for anyone in public life is what they do with power. Too often, the other candidates displayed political expediency rather than moral courage and rationalized poor decisions that put Republicans ahead of the republic.

Just last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said we are about to go over a massive fiscal cliff. We can't afford to elect a career politician at this decisive moment in our history. We need to elect a leader. I'm confident that leader is Mitt Romney.