| (in)Experience and (lack of)Character Today it is extremely easy to find out a presidential candidate�s position on many political issues. There are many hot topics ranging from abortion to term limits to health care that most people tend to focus on. To find out a candidate�s stance on these issues all one has to do is flip to a channel or click their mouse on one of those crazy internet pages the kids are using. But what if a problem arises, during a president�s term, which was never discussed or even speculated on during debates and campaign speeches? How does one know that the candidate they voted for will act in a manner that they approve of? We can only make an educated guess, based on character and experience, as to what the candidate will do. If we respect and admire the person�s character and past actions we can be assured that they will most likely do what is �right� in an unforeseen situation. It is because of these unknown issues that character and experience become such important factors in our voting decisions. Character in particular can make or break a candidate. Issues of integrity or personality often act as a counterweight to a candidates general political ideas. If the character is respected it only makes the political aspect seem more genuine. If it is ill looked upon it can take away from or completely nullify any of the merits of a candidates political beliefs. A good example would be Jack and Ted Kennedy. John was a philanderer but he had such great personality and political ideas that the promiscuity was of little importance and will always be remembered in history as a mere tidbit of information overshadowed by his legacy. On the other hand, no matter what Ted Kennedy does for the poor, minorities, the USA , and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts he will always be the Kennedy who drove that girl off a bridge. The people of Massachusetts may be able to overlook it because he does his job well (we have a saying: Ted Kennedy: great senator, bad date... okay i stole that from denis leary... so sue me... actually since i just gave him credit you can't sue me anymore so bite me) and collectively as a state we (so I was 2 when I left I can still claim Massachusetts heritage) are admittedly crazy. The rest of the country is a little more reasonable. That is why Ted never had a chance at presidency; the crimes of character outweighed the political drive. We all know Al Gore has been the vice president for almost 8 years, but is there more to this internet savvy 2nd in command? I believe there is! First there is an impressive internet site that gave me all sorts of biographical information in timeline form. Al was born in 1948, which makes him old enough to be president. From there he spent his childhood in the country and the city so he is just like all of us. Many years later he went to Harvard (which I hear is quite good) and shared a room with Tommy Lee Jones. He has been honest in saying that he did smoke pot in college (so he probably smoked pot with Tommy Lee Jones.) He graduated from Harvard with honors. He then entered the army, and got married to a censorship advocate who seems to have forgotten to read the first amendment. He then served in Vietnam as a journalist. Upon returning to America, Al began his career as a civilian journalist. While working he attended Vanderbilt University Graduate School of Religion. As a reporter he exposed local government corruption. Al then went to law school and started his career in government. He was a member of Congress from Tennessee from 1976-1984. His website says that in congress he was a proponent of health and peace. During his congressional years he generally followed the ways of the Democratic Party. Gore was elected as Senator in 1984 and 1990. During that time he furthered the advancement of internet technology(contrary to popular belief he did not invent it) and unsuccessfully ran for president. He has always been a supporter of the environment and liked it enough to write a book about it. We then know that he was Vice-President. Vice-Presidents don�t normally seem to do much but Al has been our close buddy these last 8 years. We have always know what he thinks (or what Bill Clinton thinks, as I like to call it.) We know he likes the environment. We know he likes computers and the internet but the White House web site is so 1994(and is down right now) so I don�t know if I buy that. We know he doesn�t like crime and he doesn�t like guns and he doesn�t like crimes committed with guns. We know he likes to speak Spanish yet doesn�t care much for using the accent. We know he likes what everyone else likes and is that really that bad? We all know that George W. Bush is a one-term president�s son but is there more to this spawn of the recession? I�m not really sure. George W. Bush was born in 1946, which makes him older than Al Gore. Not much is known of his youth because he didn�t have a timeline on his website. The site did say that he was raised in Texas but it did not mention that he was born in New Haven, Connecticut and spent a great deal of time in Kennebunkport, ME. He went to college at Yale in New Haven and then to get his masters at Harvard in Boston, MA where his grades wore worse than Al Gore�s. Though he was more dedicated to drug use, reaching beyond pot all the way to cocaine. He served in the Texas National Guard during Vietnam protecting Houston from the Vietcong. After his dad became president he was managing general partner of the Texas Rangers (the ones with the bats not the guns.) He then realized he wasn�t half bad at managing things so he entered politics. He was elected Governor of Texas (which is a bigger state than Tennessee) for 2 terms, which had never been done in Texas before. In Texas he supported the death penalty and allegedly has mocked those that have been executed (distasteful but funny.) He supports vouchers for school because he was governor of Texas so he knows how bad the schools in America are. He likes the conservative idea of less federal government in our lives, perhaps because he would be part of the federal government and doesn�t seem like much of a worker bee. He likes the environment but wants toxic waste clean up to be voluntary. He says he won�t push tax cuts till Medicare and social security are saved. Bush is pushing tax cuts in his campaign so I guess someone saved Medicare and social security since the last time I checked. He is for increased military spending to protect us from all of those foreign countries that, judging from interviews/quizzes, he doesn�t seem to know much about. Though he does speak much better Spanish than Gore. When making the important choice of which candidate one will support, experience and character are crucial factors. They become even more important when one is left to choose between two creepy guys. �Creepy� may be a primitive term but one that is quite fitting. When I hear the phrases �President George W. Bush� and �President Al Gore� it feels like little bugs are creeping up the nerves in the back of my neck. That feeling is my instincts telling me �this man is not president material.� I have based my decision on which candidate gives me a less potent case of the willies. This is based mostly on character and experience. I�m looking for the person with the strongest commitment to what is right for ALL people. And since Teddy drove that girl of a bridge and George W. is extremely wily my vote on character and experience goes to Albert Gore. He may be easily influenced but I do not believe his intentions are bad. A prime example would be the use of Spanish in the campaign. When they use it both candidates seem to be pandering. The difference is that Al appears to be saying �I�ll do anything to be president because I would be good at it.� George W. seems to be saying, �I�ll do anything to be president because it is all part of my evil plan (mwa ha ha!)� it seems irrational but it is truly rational. I don�t believe George W. has the passion to be president. He doesn�t seem to really want to help anyone, so why is he running? |