Obama, Clinton, or Edwards?!?!
Here are my personal thoughts on each of these candidates. They are my top three, and for the record, I only registered as a Democrat this year. I am really an Independent, but was so upset about President Bush’s terms that I wanted to go out there and do something to really show him! LOL I know no one cares but me, but for some reason I got great satisfaction changing my registered voting status to Democrat. I felt like - “Take this Republicans, how could you elect Bush in the first place, let alone re-elect him!” By changing my status to Democrat, I felt like I was one step further from being associated with Bush, plus, that way the Republicans wouldn’t be calling me trying to get me to vote for them. I am so unhappy with the Bush administration that there is NO WAY I am voting Republican, no matter what. Yes, that is pigheaded, but I am bitter over the last 8 years. ‘Nuff said.
Anyway, back to the candidates still on this young Caucus goer’s list. First up, Obama. What can I say, I used to not be able to stand him. Yes, it’s true. Now he might be my favorite. Crazy how that works. 
What I like about him is that he’s different, he’s not afraid to break the mold. He is a great speaker, which I do think would be helpful when dealing with other countries and congress. His stand on most issues matches mine, most importantly Education and Health Care. I like both of his plans. He believes that people are contributing to Global Warming. He wants out of Iraq, with a deadline. All of that is good. My concerns are that he’s too young. His great ideas are only that, ideas. He has to have support of all the traditional people in congress to be able to actually make these changes. Without that, they won’t happen. That’s my biggest concern.
Clinton - gosh, what is there to not like about Hillary??? First off, I must admit I LOVE that she is a woman. I think it’s about time we have a female president, and it’s not just because I am a woman. It’s because women think and respond differently than men, and after having a President for so long who seems to suffer from small “you-know-what” syndrome, I really think having someone without one would be great. hehe I like how she stands on most issues, I know she can make sound decisions. My worries? That there wouldn’t be much big change. Yes, I have no doubt that she could clean-up the mess Bush has made. But beyond that, changing the way politics work, I just don’t know. I don’t see her being a risk taker, and I think the time has come for someone who can take risks and go against the grain. Also, while I don’t see Bill as a problem, I know a lot of people to. Personally, I think he’d be an asset, afterall, it’s not everyday that the current president is married to a previous president. And Hillary seems to be a strong enough woman to not let him boss her around. However, a lot of people worry about that, but the way I see it is even IF that happened, Bill Clinton was a good president, minus his outside the bedroom activities. So he was a cheater - and believe me, I think that is morally wrong. But, he didn’t get us into a huge messy war in Iraq, and overall he did okay. But that is my opinion, not everyones, and the Iowa Caucus is much bigger than little old me.
Finally, there is John Edwards. Johnny boy. Good ‘ole southerner and family man. I have to admit, that is what appeals to me the most. John Edwards believes in family, and so do I. To me, there isn’t anything more important than family, and so John gets huge points for that. (this, by the way, is why Rudi Giuliani would never get my vote - I loved what he did after 9-11, but he is about as far from a family man as they get). I really like the tax breaks he talks about for the middle class and families, I feel confident in his ideas on health care. While I like Obama’s a bit better, I have a feeling Edwards might be the one with stronger more realistic research behind it. As someone in the middle class, paying a huge amount of money for private insurance, and with a child with a long-term disability, this is something I am looking long and hard at. To give you an idea, we could buy a small new car outright each year between what we pay to have insurance, and all the expenses for care outside of that. And I know there are many people whose children have way more needs than our daughter, she has a mild disability compared to many. So health care is a BIG DEAL, not just to get it for everyone, but to make it affordable at the same time. Honestly, I don’t have any problems with Edwards, he just doesn’t have the “WOW” factor Obama and Clinton seem to have. This is one of the reasons I am reading online so much today, I want to try to remove myself from the personalities of the candidates and look longer and harder at their positions without the influence of charisma.
That’s it for now - time to hit the ‘net again and see what I can find. In the meantime, here are the websites for the candidates I’ve mentioned above.
One last thing - if you’re not yet registered to vote, you can do so at Rock the Vote.com .
posted in iowa caucus, politics, president 08 | 0 Comments