Oh-Eight Indeed!

Mike said it about a month ago, and I'll say it again: I am still up in the air as to who I will be supporting for president in 2008.

A few years ago I created BU for Biden. Then I really thought about it, and I wasn't so sure. But the great thing about this race is that there is no lack of good candidates to support, but rather a plethora of amazing ones!

John Edwards is now officially in the race and claims to have an edge of experience. I like him and admire the fact that he's been working on poverty for the past few years -- an issue that won't win him any votes, but is a testament to his ideals in public service. Beyond that, he is set up nicely to win in the early primaries (particularly Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina).

Then I think about Barack Obama, and all I can say is "Wow"! He is a visionary and is in politics to create a better world. Plus, he speaks to people in ways we haven't seen since the days of our Camelot (JFK). And as one commentator said on Meet the Press, "When you're hot, you're hot. Barack Obama is hot."

Then I think back to my days of premature Biden support. Sure, he proobably couldn't win the election because he's a bit old and talks way too much. But he is still a fantastic candidate and is one of the only people in the country with the guts to develop a real Iraq plan. He'd make a helluva Secretary of State.

Then there's everyone else in the field. Bill Richardson, Al Gore, Tom Vilsack, and more, as well as those who have dropped out already (Evan Bayh, Mark Warner, Russ Feingold). And of course, Hillary Clinton. I have varying degrees of enthusiasm for these candidates, but I am not opposed to any of them.

Our victory in the '06 midterms was incredible, but the fact that so many good candidates exist for our next major run is comforting. It makes me know that I'm on the right side! Whoever you decide to get behind in the primaries, know that at the end of the day, our nominee will work to make America better. What more can you ask for?

Dodging the Draft?

With a few elected officials talking about increasing our level of troops in Iraq, Charles Rangel believes conscription exists as the only logical solution to dealing with a status quo military stretched too thin. Still, he admits that he has no political chance off succeeding as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Perhaps it is the best thing to do in order to raise passionate public outrage against the war and demand our troops come home immediately, which is Rangel's real goal. It's true that most people are not being asked to sacrifice for this war -- the first time in history that this has occurred -- and some responsibility would wake up the populace.

However, I agree with the majority of mainstream Democrats that the draft is not a good idea, and I think that Rangel is pushing this issue as a political stunt rather than a genuine solution to Iraq. Moreover, I think that only a president can rally the kind of public support needed, and that any attempt from within Congress to bring back the draft would only backfire and result in huge losses at the polls next election day. What do you think?

Oh-Eight

Thirteen months. Seven Hundred Four Days. Sixteen-thousand, eight hundred eighty-nine hours. No matter how you break it down, we've still got a ways to go before election day 2008. It seems like all anyone wants to talk about however, is who will be the two candidates appearing on the ballot that day. Yesterday, only 3 weeks and 2 days after the midterm election, Tom Vilsack
kicked off his campaign with a quick speech in Iowa and then headed to New Hampshire, South Carolina and other key primary states. John McCain and Mitt Romney
fought over attendees of the Republican Governors Association. Meanwhile, at our meeting last night, we set out to talk about congress, and kept turning back to who should/would run in '08. So I thought it would be interesting to open the internet floor to hear who everyone's candidate is. I personally haven't decided who "my guy" (or gal!) is yet. I know I don't like Kerry (he's had his chance) . I also don't like Hillary. It has nothing to do with her sex or her potential "Winnability". For one I think her continued support for the war puts her out of sync with me and most other Democrats. I also don't think she's proven herself. Let's be honest, she's a smart and saavy woman, no doubt, but she was able to jump into the Seante race in 2000 and win mostly because of Bill, and she didn't exactly face the toughest re-election this year. Other than being against those two, I'm still up in the air as to who I'll be supporting. What about everyone else? Who do you want to see as the Democratic Nominee? Leave some comments or write your own post to let us know. Anyone can comment. If you want to write your own posts and you aren't currently a member of our blog on blogger.com, e-mail me and I'll get you set up!