The election is less than 24 hours away there are a lot of reasons why Mitt Romney ought to lose but it might be useful to consider a few major ones. First, he has utilized lying as a campaign strategy that is unprecedented in presidential politics. Second, he has simply refused to provide full disclosure of his financial records (including taxes). Third, he has come very close to wallowing in the racial sewage that has characterized so much of the opposition to President Obama during the past four years. And then, there is that vision thing.

First – The Romney campaign has specialized in the Big Lie, thinking that if you tell it enough times people will believe it. His latest foray into mendacity was the blatant lie that claimed Jeep was shipping American production jobs to China. And even after the CEO of Chrysler, Jeep’s parent company flatly denied this assertion, the Romney campaign continued to broadcast advertisements containing this lie.

If the Jeep fiasco was an isolated incident it could be chalked up to end of campaign desperation. But the RomneyRyan team has lied about everything from Paul Ryan’s marathon time to Mitt Romney’s stance on universal healthcare (he was for it before he was against it). As importantly Mitt Romney has engaged in an ongoing falsehood offensive by refusing to tell the American people what government services will be eliminated when the RomneyRyan budget cuts go into effect – Planned Parenthood? FEMA? EPA? The American people should have the right to know before voting.

Second – Mitt Romney’s failure to disclose his financial records flies in the face of a political tradition begun by his father almost a half century ago. The arrogance and disdain of his stance should be an immediate disqualifier. And then there is hypocrisy.

As the CEO of Bain Capital Mitt Romney would have never hired a person to be CEO of a Bain portfolio company without a thorough background check which would, of course, include financial information. If that initial background check indicated bank accounts and investments in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland further inquiry would ensue as a matter of course. Not to do so would be the equivalent of corporate malpractice and have left Bain management vulnerable to all kinds of lawsuits in the event of misdeeds by that CEO.

Somehow Mitt Romney feels that the American people are not entitled to the same information that he would require, indeed demand, from any key employee. The logical explanation is that if Mitt Romney does not see himself as applying for the position of being employed by the American people perhaps he envisions a more regal or imperial position for himself.

Third – Too much of the opposition to Barack Obama has been tinged with the fetid sewage of racism. Any sane person knows that President Obama has not and has never been a socialist, a fascist, the anti-Christ or a citizen of Kenya. But all of those attacks are thinly veiled attempts to portray Barack Obama as the black “Other” who should have never been elected president in the first place.

During his presidential campaign John McCain had the courage and decency to distance himself from this dog whistle strategy. Mitt Romney has bought a freight load of dog whistles and has exhibited no hesitation to align himself with these appeals to the worst instincts of the electorate.

Mitt Romney has “joked” about his own birth certificate and has never reined in his pit bull surrogate, John Sununu, who has stated that President Obama “needs to learn how to act like an American” and that Colin Powell only endorsed Barack Obama because both men are black. Mitt Romney, most recent attack dog, Rudy Giuliani, distinguished himself as being the most racially-divisive mayor in the history of the City of New York.

Mitt Romney has had ample opportunity to display statesmanship – and he has failed at every turn.

Finally – There is the matter of vision. In the final analysis, the RomneyRyan vision of America is a more selfish, stingy and mean country. Dismantling Planned Parenthood, claiming that disaster relief provided by the federal government is “immoral”, shredding the social safety net and denuding the national infrastructure which is in need of renewal not simply repair are all hallmarks of the RomneyRyan vision.

If you are wealthy, self-satisfied and believe that the social contract is a one-way deal. For most people, the RomneyRyan vision will have cruel and unjust results and that is why Mitt Romney ought to lose.