Nader can't win.
Very true, but I should have said that I don't like him either :). Though I do find him more honest than both Bush and Kerry.
Kerry has no clear plan on anything.
Haha, yeah I can agree with that. I'm tired of hearing about how he "has a plan." Though, he does have a lot of "jists." One of which I do like very much -- and that's the tax-cut rollback on the top 1%. I think, if Kerry wasn't going to throw all of that money away, would help us return to fiscal responsibility. One thing I haven't done is visit Kerry's website to see if these "plans" are actually outlined there. So I can't really rag on Kerry (anymore than I have) until I check that out. Gotta be fair.
He supports abortion but, he is against it.
Now here I actually understand his viewpoint. I thought Kerry couldn't answer a single question in any of the debates until this one came up. I like that he understands that the U.S. cannot legislate any particular person's article of faith. I also understand why he voted against the partial birth abortion ban -- I do wish they had drafted the bill better. I might actually lean Kerry here.
He supports gun rights but, his senate record says otherwise.
Yeah, I don't know where he's at there. Though I was not happy that Bush didn't push the assault weapons ban more. So that one is a tossup between the two candidates for me.
He is for ousting Saddam but is against it and votes against the first Gulf War and vote against funding the troops.
Now I don't know why Kerry voted against the first Gulf War or against funding the troops. Neither sound good to me. But, again to be fair, I understand that there are often reasons for votes that appear, on the surface, to be ridiculous. This is something I'll be looking into in the next week.
Bush has been consistent in his message. His job is the security if the country.
Yes, Bush gets points here.
He has taken the fight to the terrorists in many countries.
His policies brought us out of a recession despite the 9/11 attacks, War on Terror, and corporate scandals and a heavy drop in the markets.
Here I've got a problem because I don't think I have the economic expertise to figure out whether or not Bush's policies have helped or hurt the country. My gut feeling is that its a little bit of both ... but I don't know the impact. I thought Bush was terrific right after 9/11 and during the Afghan war. But afterwards -- especially in Iraq, things started getting iffy for me.
I felt like Bush, for some reason or another, wanted war in Iraq. Perhaps they believed they just needed to get troops into the middle east as a staging ground -- to break terrorism up. The problem, if that's true, is that the Bush administration lied to me about why we're there. The whole WMD thing doesn't please me at all ... it really makes it look like we rushed into things.
You don't rush into sending your friends and neighbors to fight and possibly die -- that's how I see it. I feel like a lot of people have been callous towards the deaths of our troops who have always made serving our country the very purpose of their lives. They have done so by failing to put a face on those troops, but rather used just a number.
When I watched Fahrenheit 9/11, I thought 99% of that movie was pure propaganda and ridiculous rubbish. But there was something that did stick, and that was that so many people just don't really understand the seriousness of going to war. It doesn't mean that we send our might army to go crush the terrorists or whomever. We can't take a face off of our military, the military is our son, our daughter, our father or mother, sister or brother. This is why I feel so strongly about how Bush handled Iraq.
I'd say Bush has made me most uncomfortable with his handling of Iraq. I feel like he's gone neocon. I get the impression that Bush is going to hurt our foreign policy, damage our reputation in the world, which, despite what I've heard some conservatives say, is something to be very concerned with. It hurts trade and it hurts the lives of our citizens who live and work overseas -- beyond other things.
Home ownership has never been higher.
I don't really have an opinion on it, but if that's true and its a result of the administration, then its points for Bush.
Unemployment is less than it was during the 90s.
I do have a bit of an opinion on this one ... and its that I think both parties horribly abuse the job numbers. I am also aware that the unemployment rate means very little without other context. I do know that there has actually been a net job loss during the Bush administration. I think its a combination of the times and the Bush policies. But how much blame goes where I can't say. I need better facts and explanations -- and its hard to get those in a bitterly divided partisan country.
Another note -- I think both Bush and Kerry are going to overspend on government. Another reason why I don't like either of them.
Now a question for you...it will help me see where you're coming from:
Can you tell me anything good about Kerry?