Arrrgh!!!

I never talk about politics. I feel that you could elect any of the people who have run in the past few years, and they would, for the most part, be carbon copies of each other. I'm not sure why we even have a two party system. No candidate wants to make a statement that could loose him votes, so there's very little discussion or debate of solid issues. I'm astonished that the present candidates have agreed to have four debates. I'd like to see the list of requirements that had to be met before the debates could take place.

If you could create the candidate of your choice, what issues would he have to address? Here's a list of some topics that matter to voters:

Our presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia etc.
Homeland Security
The Economy
Affordable Health Insurance
Social Security
Pro Choice or Pro Life
Gay rights
Prayer in School, "God" in courtrooms and on money

What issues must your candidate support? Recently I heard a man say that he'd like the candidates to explain why we spend half a billion a week to support five other nations, when his family of six had NO health insurance.

Supporters of the war in Iraq have various reasons for us continuing to be a presence. Some want to see a democratic government installed, and others want to be sure that they can get the oil they need for business. Some want to prevent Iraq from being a stronghold for terrorism, and others want to free those who have been terrorized by their own government. For whatever reason, this is a HOT issue.

We will always be a nation divided on the subject of abortion. I fail to understand how someone Pro-Life can justify killing doctors who perform abortions. While I doubt that I would have ever been able to have an abortion, I strongly believe that a woman should have the right to determine what happens within her body. And, having said that, I'd work to prevent women from using abortion as birth control. I know, I'm conflicted on this issue, but I think of myself as Pro-Choice.

Gay Rights is another hot button. I'd like to know just how many gay people there are in the U.S. Either there is a lot of them, or they have just become very vocal about their treatment by the government, and I can't blame them wr wanting change. I don't understand how the government can refuse them the same services and benefits that heterosexual couples have. The constitution doesn't support the rules the government has put in place.

The DJ I listen to in the morning said that Homeland Security is most important. He feels that you have to be alive for any of the others to matter, so he ranks that as his most important choice.

I'm still trying to decide. I'd like to take bits and pieces of all the Presidents who have served during my life, and some who served before I was born and roll them together into the perfect candidate. I want someone who is honest, moral, strong in the face of adversity, a great diplomat, and good at foreign affairs. He or she would have to find a way to care for the poor in our own country, to educate anyone who wanted to go to school, and make health care affordable. He'd have to find a way to keep us safe from terrorists, without closing us off from the rest of the world. And he would have to resist the pull of power. "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton.

Unfortunately, the paragon of virtue I just described doesn't exist, so I have to choose from lesser candidates, and it means that I'll have to sift through the issues and decide which of them are most important to me. It's going to be another tough election.