TaruMistressshadow wrote:
of course I'm not voting for Kerry either. Choosing someone because they're considered the lesser of the two evils is just as bad as voting for the worst candidate itself.
I've heard so many people say this, and I don't agree with it at all. Why is Kerry all that bad? I think Kerry/Edwards will/would make a very powerful team in office. I also think that one of the main reasons why people see Kerry as the "lesser of two evils" is because Bush is SO EVIL to some people, that they can't help but focus more on him leaving office, than on who will be replacing him.
I think the other thing (that the Republican party has pretty much based every single argument against Kerry on) is that Kerry is now seen as a "Flip Flopper." God I can't tell you how much that stupid label annoys me now. Most of the people that believe this are the ones overly susceptible to advertising (the majority of this country). It is simply amazing to me how the Republicans spin every single thing whether it is the war, the economy, or health care, and find a way to tack on "Kerry changes his mind on..." at the end of the sentence. People go "Duh...really?"
They aren't capable of understanding the nuances of voting in the senate, and the complexity of what he was trying to accomplish. They don't understand that he was for the 87 billion towards the war were it to be taken from the top 1%s tax money, and made a stand against the fact that it would be taken from other *more important* aspects of society like health care and education by voting against *that version of it*
He already knew his vote wouldn't matter because it would pass anyways. He wanted to make a political stance against George W. Bush. He knew that it wouldn't hurt the troops or deny them of things like body armor (which the democrats had more of a hand in helping the soldiers getting than the republicans, by the way).
Every time someone says "Kerry is a Flip Flopper" Karl Rove gets a huge smirk on his face and pats his own back with those pudgy, sweaty palms. Way to go Repubs on that one - genius political maneuvering there. Let me tell you something. If George Bush had any political experience at all he could be labeled just the same way. Look at any senators record who has been voting for as many years as John Kerry and you will find votes which when you dumb them down, seem to contradict each other. Convenient there isn't enough time to explain each bill in a 30 second advertisement.
As I've said before: I wish George W. Bush was a flip-flopper. At least then he might be open to suggestions and advice - be able to alter his course based on new information, instead of heading straight off a cliff which he initially thought was a road to freedom. He is too damned stubborn, and too damned arrogant. I wish he was a flip-flopper.
Kerry could be one of the best Presidents we have ever seen. If we want Bush out of office, people are going to have to start recognizing Kerry beyond the political Republican spinning that has been done. He is intelligent, he has over a dozen years of foreign relations experience, he is driven, motivated, open to suggestions yet resolute at the same time, and most of all, he is idealistic. His idealism can be seen in how he was addressing the senate at age 27. In how he was strong enough to be able to command a swift boat only to realize the war was a mistake and come home to protest it. He fights for what he believes in. He could be the best president.