Tag: national candidates

Goodbye Tom

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I have been so busy with work lately that I just barely looked at the news for the first time this week. I was disappointed to learn that Tom Vilsack has abandoned his bid for the presidency. Tom was the first candidate to enter the race and the first that I endorsed. His reason for leaving – too much focus on money in the campaigning. With a much lower profile than many of the other candidates, he could not raise enough money to fund the kind of accelerated campaigns we are seeing.

I hope that, if Tom is willing, some candidate will be wise enough to choose him as a running mate. In fact, I think candidates from outside his party would do well to consider him. (I know I’m going out on a limb there, but politics as usual is not helping us.)

Tags 2008, national candidates

General

Chris Dodd

I would not consider myself to be as familiar with Chris Dodd as I am with a number of other candidates. That being said, his experience as a public official showed through very quickly as I started learning about him.

While the fiscal conservative in me does not agree with some of his positions, his stated desire for a pay-as-you-go federal budget makes me hope that he would at least raise taxes before spending on unnecessary items. It also makes me hopeful that he would take a good hard look at our federal programs and try to reduce the inefficiencies in our burgeoning government programs.

While his ideology does not align perfectly with mine, Chris is a good candidate and would be a credit to the office of president. I therefore endorse Chris Dodd for President.

Tags 2008, endorsements, national candidates

General

John Edwards

Evaluating John Edwards for endorsement has been something of a challenge. I tried to maintain my objectivity in the matter, but I am surely swayed by the fact that I liked him as a candidate in 2004. In an attempt to be objective I found myself looking for reasons to not endorse him for 2008.

After much searching I concluded that John Edwards is a better candidate now that he was in 2004. He appears to have learned much from his previous presidential run while maintaining the optimist and idealism which were some of his strengths last time. While I do not agree with every one of his positions on every issue I think that he has the character to make a good president and the ability to bring this nation together in ways that would be impossible for some other candidates.

He is honest enough to admit that his desire for universal health care is probably not attainable without a tax increase. This kind of candor before being elected bodes well for any potential public servant.

I made the decision harder than necessary. In the end, I easily endorse John Edwards for President in 2008. He is a capable candidate and I believe that he would make an admirable president.

Tags 2008, endorsements, national candidates

General

Dennis Kucinich

This has been an interesting investigation. I knew, based on the fact that Dennis Kucinich ran in 2004, that this was a candidate who was serious. I found that personally I could probably like Dennis. His position in opposition to Iraq has been a consistent hallmark for Dennis so there was no doubt in my mind that it was not a matter of popularity.

Looking at his positions on various issues, I am forced to conclude that Kucinich is not the right man for the job in 2008. He wants to decriminalize marijuana, put us in more debt by guaranteeing a full retirement through social security at age 65 for everyone, leave NAFTA and the World Trade Organization, and he thinks that the federal government can guarantee a quality education through college for all Americans.

I was surprised to discover, after all those points of disagreement, that his position on abortion is quite similar to mine. He believes that abortion is a blight on society but that there are some situations where it should be a medical option. Combining that with a skepticism that the congress would ever bring the abortion decision to an up or down vote, Kucinich believe that there are many things that we can and should do to help reduce the number of abortions in our nation (including abstinence education).

Dennis Kucinich is a candidate for all the right reasons and I believe him to be a man of integrity, but I do not endorse him for President in 2008.

Tags national candidates, not endorsed

General

Michael Smith

With positions such as the desire to institute the draft for the Iraq war, I was not sure if I could consider Michael Smith as a legitimate candidate. Further investigation showed me a man who is as realistic about his candidacy as he is serious about it – neither he nor I fail to recognize that his candidacy is limited to his home state of Oregon.

I commend him as a person for trying to do something, but I can’t endorse him as a candidate.

UPDATE 12/29/06: In case anyone sees this without seeing the comments – Michael Smith has dropped his position of supporting a draft. I think that was a wise move.

Tags national candidates, not endorsed

General

George Phillies

I have finally found another candidate whom I can endorse unequivocally. His name is George Phillies. He has a solid understanding of politics and a clear agenda which can appeal to a majority of voters.

George is highly educated (PhD in Physics from MIT) and should have a good understanding of a variety of Americans since he has lived on the east coast (Massachusetts) the west coast (California) and the mid-west (Michigan).

As I said before – I endorse George Phillies for President.

Tags 2008, endorsements, national candidates

General

Mike Gravel

Mike Gravel is a candidate with lots of experience in politics as an ex-senator from Alaska. He even tried to get nominated as a vice-presidential candidate earlier in his career.

I heartily endorse Mike Gravel as a candidate for President, with the hope that he might help to keep the discussion from becoming stale. Realistically, he has no chance of getting on the ballot. There are two reasons for this: first, he’s from Alaska which only has 3 electoral votes; second, he is 76 years old. By the time he could get elected he would be 78. To put that in perspective – Ronald Reagan was our oldest president and he was 77 when he finished his second term. Mike Gravel would be 78 before he started his first term and would be 8082 (I got lazy – as noted in the comments) before his term ended. We will never have an octogenarian as President unless half the population of the United States is over 50.

Tags national candidates, not endorsed

General

Steve Kubby

Steve Kubby is running for president. That’s the only “positive” thing I can say here. Actually, I was wrong, he has the best looking MySpace page I have ever seen – it actually fails to look like psychedelic vision out of a drug-induced dream.

He waves the flag of his home state by giving plenty of time to his position related to medical marajuana. (We are a long way from that being a major issue in national politics.) He advocates an immediate pullout from Iraq and decries illegal immigration.

In short, Kubby is serious about his candidacy, but he is not a serious candidate. If he became the president, the United States would begin to look as quirky and unstable to the outside world as Venezuela has come to look under the presidency of Hugo Chavez. I don’t mean to imply that Kubby is like Chavez, only that he is equally far from the mainstream.

While I think that most voters would like to see a change in our political system, they don’t want this kind of change. Kubby will get up to 5% of the vote in California and not more than 1% in any other state where he can get on the ballot.

I cannot even think of endorsing such a “candidate”.

Tags national candidates, not endorsed

General

John Cox

Post author By David
Post date December 7, 2006
7 Comments on John Cox

I was not sure what to expect from John Cox when I started me research. I had never heard of him, and without any of the titles in front of his name that are so common among the well known candidates (Governor, Senator, Representative) I half expected to find that he was one of those people who has a message but will be happy if they can just get that message on the evening news sometime because of their campaign.

What I found was a very serious, dedicated candidate who really believes in his message. He has years of experience in various political areas, just none that are in the spotlight so much as where better known candidates have usually been.

Instead of finding a man who had ideas and dreams, I found a man who had experience in making things happen in his own life and in the lives of people around him. I believe that he is a candidate who will not be overwhelmed by the office if he should win the presidency.

Having been pleasantly surprised in my findings, I still had to decide if I would endorse John Cox for president. My conclusion is that – although I do believe that he could fill the office of the president – I do not believe that he is the type of man that this country needs at this time.

His tone is slightly too divisive and idealistic. We need someone who can be grounded in their morals and pragmatic in their direction. Some of John’s ideas are not pragmatic. Others are good, but not focused on the issues that are the most important to us today.

Tags national candidates, not endorsed

General

Tom Vilsack

Tom Vilsack is finishing his second term as the governor of Iowa. He did not run for re-election. My research indicates that Vilsack had a vision for his state and in his eight years in office he succeeded in implementing that vision to a great degree. This suggests the ability to focus on a goal and work with others to make it happen. This shows leadership.

In my searching, Vilsack came across as a candidate with ideas and experience who is ready to do more than talk about what should be done. Rather than forming an exploratory committee, he made his decision to run and filed his papers for candidacy. This suggests that he will take action once he makes a decision.

The language of his dialog is positive and issue oriented. I hope to see this kind of campaigning continue when there is a specific opponent to campaign against. In other words, I hope to see more of campaigning for issues and ideas and less of campaigning against other candidates.

I endorse Tom Vilsack for President.

Tags 2008, endorsements, national candidates