et the mud slinging begin! Another United States presidential election campaign and it's been a doozy! Some of the signs of the season: Opinion polls, verbal gaffes, thousands of speeches, and more debates than ever before. There is also glad-handing, caucuses, ever earlier primaries, newspaper coverage, television coverage, radio talk show coverage, Internet blog coverage, YouTube videos, MySpace and FaceBook profiles and friends, and a fundraising rollercoaster. And don’t forget books by and about the candidates. Did I mention the mud slinging? After a slow start there’s been plenty of that as well.
If you've been anywhere in the United States since the second half of 2006, you've been exposed to (perhaps even steeped in) one of the longest presidential campaigns ever. And it’s not over yet. There’s even been talk of legislating the length of future Presidential campaigns!
Even other countries are being dragged through the political mud. England’s healthcare ministry doesn’t appreciate being used as an example of poor medical care by one of the candidates. Mexico doesn’t feel it’s being treated well in the presidential debate concerning immigration. Pakistan has had to weigh in as well. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Israel and China are part of the conversation, not to mention Afghanistan and Iraq.
And if you're not tired of the campaign yet, there are probably a couple of people you'll be glad not to see or hear once it's over. But don't get your hopes up, because politicians have a tendency of turning up again and again like so many bad pennies.
The campaign field started out with twenty or so candidates, all of whom are covered here. By the end of 2007 four or five had dropped out of the race, leaving a still sizeable pack of politicians to choose from, both Democrat and Republican and two or three maybes who may come in as Independents or Republicans.
Some of them clearly have no chance of winning and they’ll be the first to tell you as much. But you can bet they’re hoping for a final stretch miracle going into the Iowa caucuses and Super Tuesday. (Super Tuesday is February 5, 2008, a day when many states hold their primaries on the same day. It is often said that the candidate for each party will be known with some certainty by the end of this day.)
Generally speaking you have as your candidates, 9 lawyers, a minister, an actor and a lawyer (who plays a lawyer), 3 businessmen, a lobbyist, a first lady, a medical doctor, 7 veterans of the military, a Secretary of Health and Human Services, a Secretary of Energy, 4 mayors, 5 governors, 11 senators, 9 congressmen, and 16 guests on Saturday Night Live! How's that for fuzzy math?
And that’s all you need to know to go out and vote!
Well, maybe not, but it’s some of the interesting stuff that you can learn about the candidates in these pages.
This site places a major focus on some of the important stuff that each candidate has said in their own words. What better way to get to know someone than through what they say? Not what I say they say or some other political pundit. For instance, I have tried to compile what each has said at one point about the war in Iraq, or about Energy policy, or Taxes. Sometimes it was hard to find something that the candidate said about a particular subject. If that’s the case there’s plenty of information covering other subjects. Hopefully there’s enough to help you decide who you like as a presidential candidate.
Also included in the site is biographical information concerning each candidate such as where they are from, where they went to college, what kinds of jobs they’ve had and even their religion, date of birth and other family information.
There is also a “position” section with stances on “hot button” issues like gun control or abortion. There really aren’t any surprises here as the positions tend to follow party lines, except in a few cases.
The appendix consists of a comprehensive bibliography and a section on primary and caucus voting dates.
In our busy lives, we may say we’re not political as individuals, but we all should be active to some extent. Polititians determine our property taxes every year, they determine how much our paycheck is taxed, and they determine what our sales tax will be. Polititians determine new fees and tolls and they determine to some extent what we can and can’t do. Politicians can have a great impact on our lives and what we do without our even realizing it.
Vote armed with some knowledge of your political leaders. Vote in the primaries and most importantly vote in November for your local, state and national leaders. It is important and you will make a difference.
Brian M. Holmes, New Jersey, USA, December 2007
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