Students should think hard about our next president

[Alamom]

http://media.www.arbiteronline.com/media/storage/paper890/news/2007/04/23/Opinion/Students.Should.Think.Hard.About.Our.Next.President-2872913.shtml



Students should think hard about our next president

MONICA FEDRIZZI

Issue date: 4/23/07

The 2008 Presidential Election is over a year away, and the candidates are sprinting toward the finish.

Further intensifying the battle is the unprecedented variety of candidates, particularly on the Democratic roster. The first female candidate and the first black American candidate are each vying to win in the Democratic primary election.

After years of white male succession of the Presidency, there might actually be a change in government that reflects the diversity and equality that the United States claims to represent. What a progressive year for the American people.

Some don’t share the enthusiasm for the milestone that this is, particularly when referring to our first woman candidate, Hillary Clinton. I have had conversations regarding Hillary and am troubled about people’s opinions. We are entitled to our own opinions, however, before we take a stance and voice an opinion, we should have some information on that topic. We shouldn’t have absolute disdain without being able to explain our reasoning yet, I encounter people who “hate” Hillary or “fear” her, and upon asking why, I get a shrug followed by what I do not define as an answer.

“I don’t know, I just don’t like her,” is one response I’ve heard.
You just can’t put your finger on it?

>

*This country prides itself on women’s suffrage and is appalled at Women’s place in other cultures.

* Ironically, we punish the women who attain power in a man’s world by calling them the B word.

* Would Hillary be where she is if she was a timid, acquiescing woman? No.

* Women cannot complain about societal objectification of women and then turn around and judge women who stand for what we have supposedly fought for.

>



Monique Fedrizzi is a BSU student.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

1. “I don’t know, I just don’t like her,” is one response I’ve heard.

That is the point many of us have been making...there are many people who simply don't like her because she just rubs them the wrong way.

As far as the rest of the post, the idea that a candidate should get bonus points for a particular gender or skin color or last name is fundamentally counter to core Democratic principles.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Apparently, they will.

This was posted on another thread.

rasmussenreports.com Fri Apr 13, 9:40 AM ET

Forty-five percent (45%) of American voters say they would currently vote for the Democrat in their district while 35% would pull the voting lever for a Republican. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found 6% favoring a third-party option while 15% are not sure.

Democrats lead by five percentage points among men, by fourteen points among women. Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record)'s party holds a staggering 30-percentage point lead among voters under 30. Separate surveys have shown that a declining number of Americans now identify themselves as Republicans.

The poll also found that, for the first time since Election 2006, a plurality of voters view Congressional Democrats as politically liberal. Forty-one percent (41%) of voters believe most Democrats in Congress are politically liberal while 39% say they are politically moderate. That's a significant shift to the left since the Democrats formally took control of Congress in January. Last December, just 32% viewed the Democrats as politically liberal while 44% viewed them as moderates.

Perceptions of Republicans have changed little this year. Forty-seven percent (47%) believe most Republicans in Congress are politically conservative while 34% believe most GOP Representatives are moderate....



Looks to me the future of the GOP is swirling down the toilet.

[Captain_Nemo]

3. These are all good points - being a well informed voter -let's try that this time

I agree with the poster about the troubling anti-Hillary Clinton opinions. They are as baseless as the followers of Obama who say things like" he's an outsider, we need that." Or, more troubling when I ask them what Barack Obama is going to do about global warming, Iraq and our economy and they can't give me any hard examples. It is similiar to all those people who wanted to vote for Bush because "I could have a beer with him" or "I trust him."

What is most troubling to me is this Obama line (I will paraphrase): 'people say I don't have enough experience in Washington but I have enough experience to know that Washington needs to change.' (how original)

That should raise a red flag to anyone.

The facts are:

Hillary has the most experience.

The problems are:
so grave that if the president screws up there will be no second chances.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

4. HRC is hardly the most experienced candidate

If you want to vote solely based on resume then you would have to vote for Richardson. He has experience in all major areas aside from military experience. Biden, Dodd have been in the Senate for decades, Kucinich was a mayor of a major city three decades ago and has won several terms in the House, and even Obama has more experience in elected office than HRC (and Edwards, both essentially one termers).

[Captain_Nemo]

5. I meant between Hillary and Barack and....

I don't think one can compare 6 years in a State Senate with 8 years in the White House and two terms as State Senator.
Hillary has more experience than Obama.

I think Obama is great.

I don't think he can successfully solve the three problems that face us:

Global warming
Iraq
Economy

There are no second chances on these problems. It has to be handled with a nexperienced person.

Maybe Obama in 10 years.

I leaned more toward Nader's ideas in 2000 but didn't vote for him because his inexperience showed. I see the same with Barack.