The New Road

If it's a democratic county, then why/how is the election office republican controlled?

Wanted to get your thoughts on something. There is a lot of information on your blog about how horrible Bush and his administration are. There is some information about what a good person Kerry is and what he stands for (truth, honesty, etc) as well as his five point plan. You also speak about the importance of what a person does, not just what he stands for or what he says. What has Mr. Kerry done that would make me vote for him? No spouting bush-hatred, no telling me what a horrible person bush is and what a stand-up guy Kerry is. No character or party bashing or party-line politics. Just the man. I'm serious and want to know because I'm not finding much.

Me too.

Also, I know you were avidly for Howard Dean at the beginning. What do Kerry and Dean have in common and what are their differences?

One of Carter's criteria for a free and fair election is an elections office that is not partisan. He has declared that the Florida elections cannot be certified because their elections office is clearly partisan. Carter is well known and respected, and has monitored elections in a number of countries. Currently that partisanship is Republican because the last registrar was Republican and this current one is as well.

As for Kerry. I appreciated what he did in Vietnam and after the war. He is a man of principles who stands up for what he believes in. As a senator I've been doing some research and have found that he was behind initiatives I appreciated. For example, it was his draft of the $87B that would have recinded some of the tax cut for the wealthy that would have been vetoed by the president. It was the right thing to do and he did it. He helped balance the budget during the Clinton years to bring us the longest period of peacetime prosperity in our history. He was behind the initiative to add 100,000 cops in the nineties.

I even support his decision to vote for the use of force in Iraq. The president unfortunately abused that support, and the faith of all americans to use his war powers judiciously. But I still think that it was right to give a president the support to use force if it is required.

What the president did with that support is despicable. The Republican party shares fully in the responsibility as they picked a complete incompetent as a presidential candidate and played the dirty tricks game to get him selected. Every single American who supported the election of President Bush shares a portion of he blame for Iraq, for the 1,100 troops that have been killed an the 100,000 Iraqi casualties.

Bush was a loose cannon from the start. I begged people not to vote for him. But the blind faith in the rhetoric of the Republican party, and unjustified hatred of Clinton fueled by the right wing media put a madman in power.

Let there be no misunderstanding. A vote for Bush today is a vote to shed more Iraqi and American blood tomorrow and throughout the next four years. The neocons look at this as a five act play. If you vote for Bush you are saying that you think we should send our sons to invade Syria and Iran next. A vote for Bush is a vote to continue and expand World War III. The is an unnecessary war and we have an opportunity that is unique in the history of mankind to stop World War III with our votes.

Sorry, I got into Bush bashing there at the end and you asked me not to.

Ok. I really, really like Kerry. If you heard the debates you saw what a reasonable and thoughtful man he is. That's the personal aspect.

On the historical aspect. I think the Vietnam history is important, and when you look at it objectively, without all of the partisan nonsense, it looks good. He was decorated five times in Vietnam. He went into a tough situation, did a good job, but also looked objectively at it and decided to take a stance against it. He then went back and rallied support against the war. A war we all know was wrong. Even McNamara says it was a bad war. He never went against the troops, he took on the real problem, the leadership of the country, who knew they were loosing but couldn't get out because of political pressures. All of that takes courage. And it's something to be proud of.

I think his Senate work is also good. You have to dig, because the life of a Senator is all behind the scenes type work. But when you dig you find a lot to like. Very importantly he helped balanced the budget deficit after Reagan. That was really important. That's why you and I have any of the money that we have today.

Thanks. Funny, I had the same thought as Jacqueline regarding Dean. I remember how much you and Lori supported him and liked him and then Iowa came and down he went. Then it was a lot of anyone but Bush and then you like Kerry.

I'm incredibly disappointed in the quality of candidates we've had for years now. Clinton as a choice was a no-brainer in his second term, because really, how viable was Dole was a candidate? And the last time around, well, both were not much in the way of powerhouse candidates. This time around is pretty much the same. And the first Bush sealed his fate with the whole "no new taxes" and then we had taxes.

I'm disappointed in the parties for their complete unwillingness to put forth a candidate that's truly worthy of my vote.