The change President Barack Obama promised in 2008 is nowhere to be found in 2012.

Frankly, many people realize we elected a fraud in Barack Obama. He had no business experience, he was young and hadn’t even completed a full term as a U.S. senator. Some level of successful legislative experience ought to be necessary to become president of the United States of America. If someone is running for a legislative/executive level position, wouldn’t it behoove him to have significant experience on his resume?

Obama quit his job as U.S. senator to run for president. But why would such a young senator with very few credentials run for president? Because he could.

America was tired of George W. Bush, and Obama represented a stark contrast to him. Obama was black, young, intelligent, likable, anti-war, ultra-environmental, and seemingly anti-rich.

Turns out, four years and more than 100 rounds of golf later (how many have you played?), Obama is different than Bush. But probably not how he wanted to be.

He has proven to be a divisive president. While Bush united America after being dealt the 9/11 attacks less than a year into his presidency, Obama and his Democrat friends did not bring America together after the recession hit.

Unlike Bush, Obama divided America. He sent billions of taxpayer dollars to other countries in the form of a stimulus plan. He rejected Republican congressional and senatorial stimulus plans.

Then, he decided to force a massive government-run health care program on the country. No bi-partisan collaboration on this either: In the House, all 178 Republicans voted against it, and so did 34 Democrats.

True leadership is able to work with the other side and persuade them to come on board. Obama could not get that done. He has also apologized to other countries for American exceptionalism.

Let’s look at where the Obama campaign is: he runs ads mocking Romney for suggesting cuts to PBS, runs an ad with a woman telling female voters to “vote with their lady parts,” runs ads saying Romney doesn’t care about his trash man, runs ads that say Romney effectively killed someone, and lectures “the rich” (the job-creators) that they don’t “pay their fair share of taxes.”

He also lied about a recent terrorist attack, originally saying it was a spontaneous demonstration that turned violent in response to a YouTube video, when it turns out that military intelligence determined early on it was a pre-planned terrorist attack.

His Democrat friends openly aligned themselves with the dangerous Occupy Wall Street movement, many of whom have committed serious crimes and even been convicted as terrorists for threatening to bomb fire and police stations.

The Obama campaign of 2008 was about hope and change. The Obama campaign of 2012 is about sexism, racism and fear-mongering.

He has spent millions targeting women, African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans.

He wants to distract the American people from the real issue: his failed record on the economy. He wants to scare women and African-Americans into thinking that Mitt Romney’s top priority is to “turn the clock back” on them by “50 years.”

Nonsense. Romney’s plan is to get Americans back to work, regardless of color and gender. Creating economic opportunity for all people is what the president should be promoting — not free contraception and free abortions.

It’s amazing what four years can do.

Phillip Hines is a Smithfield resident who recently published a book, “Mitt Romney: In His Own Words.” Email him at philliphines@gmail.com.