Democrat for President
By: Dan
Published On: 1/21/2007 11:54:00 AM
As we watch Obama and Hillary enter the race (the only two candidates that are recognized so well, they are defined by one name), it is obvious that name recognition can get you pretty far in a Presidential race. I mean, who has ever heard of Tom Vilsack, right? However, as we get closer to the primaries and people start paying some attention, character comes into play and everything each candidate says is analyzed to death. But this isn't any normal election because in 2008, whoever the Democrats run will be in line to replace the worst Administration in American history?which happened to be a Republican one.
For six years now we have had nobody who cares about the environment or pollution; nobody who cares about education; nobody who cares about health care; and nobody who cares about poverty. I have made the argument, usually unsuccessfully, that as bad as the things the Bush Administration has done, the worst thing about them is the things they have not done. When you neglect important issues, they come back to haunt you. For example, the cost of gasoline, airline tickets, electricity, and health care have all doubled since Bush took office. College tuition and housing has become less affordable than ever. The gap between rich and poor is rising. We need a leader who can take us back to November 2000 when we the people elected Al Gore, not George W. Bush. They need to start from that status quo. When we cared about people who got sick; when we valued education; when we were cracking down on environmental hazards; and when we took terrorism seriously rather than opportunistically taking advantage of an attack that possibly could have been prevented. Of course Iraq plays a role. We need to find a way to exit. However, all the talk about Iraq loses sight of our domestic policies, which in many ways are tied into our failures in Iraq. Education, health care, and the environment all affect our status in the world. Most Republicans don't seem to understand that, which is why they sacrifice funding for programs that work on these issues to spend more money on a failing war.
I don't like Hillary Clinton as a Presidential candidate. I will vote against her in the primary. I hope that during the next year she will talk about important issues and discuss solutions rather than play stupid political games that may work in the Senate, but fail miserably in Presidential politics. All I know is that all those Republicans who defended Bush in his failed policy in Iraq, even after all the lies we were told were exposed, will have a tough time in 2008. For that reason, Democrats have the luxury of choosing someone with ethics and good ideas; somebody who can put us back on the right track -- albeit eight years delayed. I don't know who that is yet, but it ain't Hillary.
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