‘Friday Night Lights’ Author Buzz Bissinger Endorses Romney For President

Lifelong Democrat Buzz Bissinger, the high-profile author of Friday Night Lights, is voting for Mitt Romney after watching the former Massachusetts governor perform in last Wednesday’s presidential debate. “I have never seen a performance worse than Obama’s,” Bissinger declared.

In his Daily Beast column, Bissinger explained that the Denver debate was for him a tipping point and, as such, he’s decided to vote for the GOP candidate in next month’s presidential election:

“This is not a frivolous decision, nor is it an easy one. I grew up on the Upper West Side of New York, arguably the country’s nexus of liberalogy … By instinct I still cling to my Democrat roots. But I admit that as I get older, on the cusp of 58, I am moving more to the center or even tweaking right, or at least not tied to any ideology. Those making more than $250,000 should pay more taxes, and that does include me. But I also am tired of Obama’s constant demonization, of those he spits out as ‘millionaires and billionaires,’ as pariahs …”

“At the debate, Romney did not simply act like he wanted to be president. He wants to be president. He showed vigor, and enthusiasm, and excitement, a man who wants to lead. It may all be ephemeral, because most of politics is ephemeral, a cynical means to the end of getting elected. But he also revealed compassion that, during the entirety of this absurdly long march, had never been in evidence before …”

“Democratic supporters offered the usual antidotes to Obama’s debate performance: he was tired from running the country, the mile-high air got to him (which is why Al Gore is better off with the midlife crisis of a beard). But I don’t see Obama spending much time running the country, unless you count his recent appearance on The View, where he was far more animated and charming than during the debate …”

Bissinger’s best-selling book, Friday Night Lights, about a Texas high school football team became a successful movie and television series. Among other accomplishments in journalism, Bissinger also won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on corruption in the Philadelphia court system.