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I am so frustrated right now. With each passing day, it becomes more apparent that if Dean gets the nomination, he will be portrayed by Rove & Co. as a draft-dodging gay-marriage loving, Northeastern liberal who does not represent "middle America" and who can't be trusted with defending the nation from terrorists. Nothing I have seen or heard of Dean in the last 10 months has changed my initial impression that he has no chance against Bush. The GOP could not construct a more ideal opponent if they had tried.
Meanwhile, we have in Wesley Clark a candidate who has no "social issues" baggage that can be used against him in attack ads; whose credentials in foreign policy and national security are vastly superior not only to Dean's, but to Bush's; who is articulate, intelligent, and (not unimportant to some voters) handsome; who has spoken passionately in defense of civil liberties, affimative action, protecting the environment, extending health care to all Americans, improving education, preserving Social Security, reaching out to our allies instead of isolating ourselves from them, and of using force as a last resort rather than as the "easy" way to solve problems abroad. And yet the press remains obsessed with "gotcha" journalism, and the public hears nothing except how Clark's campaign "has failed to fulfill its early promise." I am just so angry and frustrated right now - mainly with the press coverage of this campaign - that I feel like kicking the furniture.
I just can't stand the thought of a second Bush term. It will mean privatization of Medicare, budget caps for Medicaid, turning Social Security from the last remaining secure income for the elderly into savings accounts that will be totally inadequate for the majority of people, untold destruction of the environment, and further limits on basic civil liberties. We can't let this happen! We are in a unique era of history in which the policies of the last 70 years that have done so much to reduce poverty, to provide for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled, to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink from pollution, to ensure fair access for all Americans to education, employment, and houseing all are under attack from people whose ONLY concerns are cutting taxes, giving favors to their corporate friends, and pandering to the fears and prejudices of the voting public.
We have seen the Bush agenda in reckless tax cuts for the rich, huge subsidies for favored industries (see the execrable energy bill now before the Senate) and the Trojan Horse that is the medicare bill - a cheap, inadequate drug benefit that is merely a distraction intended to hide the steps toward privatization, the huge subsidies and direct payoffs to big business, the means-test for the poor and the caps on spending that lurk inside. Can we really endure 4 more years of this???
I don't believe we can, and I don't believe that Howard Dean can prevent it because he simply isn't electable. Wesley Clark not only CAN be elected, he DESERVES to be elected! We all just have to work more to realize that goal. There is so much at stake for all of us!!!
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