Obama vs. Romney - NYTimes.com Re "The ESPN Man," by David Brooks (column, May 15): Regarding the presidential election, Mr. Brooks asks, "Why is Obama even close?" He bolsters this question by explaining that with the economy struggling, a leftist ideology at play, President Obama's views on the size of government and rising inequality, it follows that President Obama should be being trounced. I have a rather straightforward answer to Mr. Brooks's question: Mr. Obama is close because the recession, and its dramatic economic shock waves, were not a result of his policies; rather than ruling from the left, he has ruled from the pragmatic center. Furthermore, government at all levels has shrunk, not grown, under his watch, and inequality is rising primarily as a result of Republican policies, many showcased and practiced by the last administration. Add to these realities a weak Republican challenger who believes that the same policies that caused our economic problems will be the same ones to solve them, and this independent voter is asking a very different question: Why is Mitt Romney even close?