Campaign Speeches
This is my first political post, ever, in the history of the universe.
Let it be known that my knowledge of politics is below nil, and any analysis I make will be from what I know about politics. With that said, let me begin my fruitful discussion on the presidential hopefuls for the 2008 election.
When I say presidential hopefuls, I only mean two people: Hilary and Barack. This is not to say that either one will definitely win, but they are receiving the most buzz at the moment, at least among the scientific blogosphere.
At first I was leaning towards Barack, but now I am leaning towards Hilary. There is really no great reason for this. I know didley squat about policies of the candidates and all that, so the only thing I can judge is on presentation of self.
I don’t really intend to go into why I gradually decided to side with Hilary, but the main reason is that she has already proven herself. One of the most powerful things she’s done, aside from all the political policy hoopla which I have no hope of understanding anytime soon, is stand by her husband even after the whole Lewinsky scandal. I don’t see this as an example of standing by someone after they’ve cheated on you. It’s more that she recognizes the human condition and is willing to be strong about it. I’ve heard that this move was to increase her political power. In any case, the topic of this entry hasn’t started.
Now people are saying Barack is a respectable guy. He’s the “real deal,” as another person put it. Intelligent, charismatic, a good leader, etc…
My problem is the campaigns. When I watched a video of his campaign speech, he kept saying things like “Thank goodness that when you vote, ‘George W. Bush’ will not be an option on your ballot,” or “The current administration in Washington is incompetent,” or “It was a big mistake to go to Iraq” and so on…
Instead of saying what he intends to do or why we should choose him, he decides to talk about how bad things are. Granted, this is a good lead into saying how he can change things for the better. But I just feel dirty listening to someone talk about how shitty things are right now in Washington. Although true or not, it just doesn’t demand great respect from me when the points made are related to trash talking Washington.
Maybe that’s what the people want to hear, maybe that’s what will get him the most votes, yada yada yada…
The most interesting thing is that these two candidates, who are pretty popular now in the “meaningless national polls,” have great odds for winning. These two candidates will be a first in history – 1st black president, or 1st female president. I’m excited for either.
There’s that stereotype that politicians are corrupt, but I just don’t want to believe it. I want to think there is some candidate who’s good, an honest-abe lincoln. There is still some hope!
Also, Mike Huckabee, one of the Republican candidates, is a very funny guy.
Well, there’s my first post on politics. Hopefully this will begin the path towards political enlightenment. (Yeah right).
