The differences in the 2 presidential campaigns

While having lunch with my mom and 2 of my sisters, one of my sisters said that no matter who was elected president, it probably wouldn't make much difference. And I tried to explain that while that may have been true in the past, the differences between the two parties were too great to expect that to be true. While I tried to highlight the many differences, I should have just pointed out 2 differences in the last 2 days between the campaigns.
Since I DVR just about everything, I rarely see commercials. But last night I saw both an Obama ad and a pro-Romney ad made by a PAC. Obama's ad was simply him talking into the camera, explaining his plans for the next 4 years if elected president. He talked about the need for better education, his plan for a diversified energy future for the country, his desire for the tax on the top 2% to return to the rate that it was during the Clinton administration, and his plan to have the military leave Afghanistan and use the money to help rebuild America. The pro-Romney ad was set in China in the year 2030 with a man telling other Chinese men that like the fallen empires of Greece and Rome, it was inevitable that the American empire would fall. And since the Chinese had loaned the U.S. so much money, America now worked for them. In other words, a smarmy negative ad that told nothing of Romney's plan for the country.
The other difference, although not as great, was what the last 2 former Presidents were doing. President Clinton was on the stump giving speeches for President Obama in several states, including Ohio and Florida, with the press in tow. So Clinton was basically pressing the flesh, trying to get the faithful to vote for the president. And what was George W. Bush doing the last few days? Well, he was actually pressing the flesh, in a way, too. He was in the Cayman Island as the key note speaker at a 2 day conference for people who wanted to learn the advantages of moving their money to tax-free shelters to the island. And what was the keynote speech? Well, since no press was allowed at the conference, no one really knows. But at least Bush was talking to, almost unanimously, Romney voters.
Need to know what the differences in the 2 campaigns are this year? I think these 2 things highlight the differences very well.