|
and I was wondering today why that was . . . I came up with two reasons:
1. None of the candidates impress me all that much AS CANDIDATES (as opposed to their positions on issues). Not a single one of them would be as good a candidate as Al Gore . . . and I thought Al Gore wasn't all that good a candidate! The mission is to beat Bush, and at this point I just don't like how any of these guys stack up against the Shrub AS CANDIDATES. And he's gonna have a lot more money, to boot.
2. I seem to have specific problems with each of the potential nominees that won't go away. I include among these only Dean, Clark, and Kerry (although Kerry is hanging on by his fingernails). The others just aren't in the running, imo. Of those three:
- Kerry - I like his positions and his record, but he's just not handling himself well as a candidate. For example, I could forgive his vote for the war if he'd just come out and said "Hey, I was wrong." Instead, he continues to try to rationalize it with every kind of contortion, and it's just not becoming. His membership in S&B still bothers me, but I could also forgive that if he were running a good campaign. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking "If he has this much trouble running a campaign, how the hell is he going to run the country?"
- Clark - I also like Clark's positions, and at this point I'm almost convinced that he may be the only one with a legitimate shot at beating Bush. Still, his military background and past business associations put him smack dab in the middle of the military-industrial complex . . . the same folks that brought us the PNAC. I've read the negative stuff about his actions in Kosovo and the comments on his wanting everything his way or no way, and that gives me pause (although I have no way of knowing what's true and what's not). I'll support him if he's nominated, but the questions will likely remain.
- Dean - You have to admire Dean for what he's accomplished; he's added a whole new dimension to political campaigning, and done it very, very well. I'm not comfortable with some of his positions . . . gun control, NAFTA, and others . . . and something about him just rubs me the wrong way. Mostly, I see him being demolished by Bush. Yeah, he seems to have a lot of support now, but you have to remember that the only people paying attention right now are political junkies and people who actually think . . . combined, that's a decidedly small minority of the electorate. I also think Bush can tag him as the gay marriage candidate rather efficiently. All in all, I don't believe he will be a strong candidate in the general election . . . and my overriding objective is the defeat of BushCo.
jmho, as always . . . I'm sure that the Kerry, Clark, and Dean supporters will let me have it . . . just be aware that I've read pretty much all of your stuff already, so there's not a lot that you can say that I haven't already heard . . .
peace out, y'all . . . :)
|