What do you think about the Clinton policies that seem to be echoed by Gore?
Not all of them are. Of those that are, a couple I agree with him on are free trade (his dissection of Ross Perot on Larry King's show a few years back was superb) and welfare reform (just as only Nixon could go to China, only the Dems could have accomplished what has been accomplished on this one). As for the deficit and national debt (which I thought and still think is one of the most important issues still out there) I can't very well fault Clinton/Gore for inheriting a huge deficit and arriving at the destination of a substantial surplus, and using some of that surplus to reduce the accumulated debt. I will agree in part if you counter that they lucked into that one and it would have happened anyway, but at least they didn't screw it up.
Such as decimating our military forces to the point that officers are publicly stating that there is not enough equipment, or spare parts, or man power, to adequately defend this nation,
Our military, God Bless them (especially on this D-Day) are always saying those things, just as most recipients of government money say those things about what the lack of government money will do to their "needs" (wants). Even under Reagan the military claimed they needed more of this or that. Much of that "news" is driven by the PR budgets of defense contractors. You may recall a speech given by Eisenhower in the waning days of his Presidency, in which he warned about the dangers of ceding too much to the nation's emerging "military-industrial complex." Go back and read that speech sometime, it was remarkably prescient IMHO.
gun registration which will invariably lead to gun confiscation
I am not with you on this one either. Yes, the Constitution gives us some rights to bear arms, but modern society being as it is I think some reasonable restrictions and tracking of that activity is appropriate. If the Constitution does not explicitly permit those restrictions, perhaps it ought to be amended. It has been a long journey from the need for militias to keep the Redcoats at bay to Columbine High School being attacked by students with assault rifles.
the federal government having total control of the education of your children
I have three young children. My wife and I are very active in their educations, and view it as our own responsibility. I perceive it as still being largely within the control of the local schools and the family. I have even applied to be on the local school board. So my response to you on this one is that even under the Democrats (who I agree are captives of the evil teachers' unions) you have enough control over the education of your children to make a difference. But this is unquestionably one of Gore's weakest issues. (I am a big fan of vouchers to force schools to be competitive and responsive, and to afford the less fortunate access to better school choices.)
as I told another poster that seemed to be more interested in his wallet than anything else
My observation is that most voters seem interested in that. I look at far more than that. I am not particularly worried about my wallet regardless of who wins.
The main burden Bush will have when he is elected, is to undo the damage to the economy that clinton has already done
The main burden Bush will have before he is elected is to show any damage that Clinton has done to the economy. On the one hand you give Reagan credit for causing the economic boon (an argument I agree with, though I would add Bush Sr. to the credits), but on the other hand you say Clinton has damaged the economy. I have trouble seeing a damaged economy at the moment, sorry.
Gore is a copy cat and will, most assuredly, follow suit
Maybe, maybe not. I don't think that anyone could possibly successfully imitate the lack of integrity shown by Clinton. If we get the same policies and even a little more integrity, seems to me that (with a Republican Congress controlling the purse strings) we'll be ok.
Clinton, as President, had nothing to do with a strong economy. Congress is the entity that causes booms or busts, where government is concerned
Then this is not a make or break election, is it?
One of the problems causing your myopia about Bush is, by your own admission, that you have not seen, or heard, enough of him
I have not made up my mind yet by any means. I was merely observing that based on my admittedly incomplete observations so far, Gore and Bush look pretty similar and Gore looks to be in a dominant position if past election results during economic good times are any guide.
Is that why you use "original" in front of yours?
I use original in front of mine because when I first started posting over on Yahoo somebody already had the name I wanted. When I came over here I was discussing stuff with several of the same people so I wanted them to know it was the same person and therefore picked the same name. |
