By
Cory Spiller
Election 2000, God bless America: another election year, another round of sucker punches, mud-slinging and enough spin to make you dizzy for four more years. Voting for the president is fairly simple. You pick the person you relate to most. George W. Bush should not be the President of this country because has nothing in common with the American people.
Granted, Al Gore is not an ideal candidate. He has been groomed for politics since he could speak. But at least he doesn't own millions of dollars of energy stocks; at least Gore held an average job as a journalist during the Vietnam war. W. can't escape from his special interests; they completely define him: he is big money.
Unfortunately, candidates can't help but look out for their own interests, and so it makes sense to vote for the person you have similar interests with. That raises a question. Why is more than one percent of the population considering voting for W? Straight out, he is a corporate, upper-class, Christian-right errand boy. If you are a millionaire, and think that the solution to every problem of our county can be found in the Bible, vote for Bush.
George wants power. His daddy had it, and he wants it too, and if he is anything like his father, the next four years could end up being a bad episode of Pee-wee's playhouse meets Mr. Rogers. George Bush senior, went to the White House with two goals: not to raise taxes and never to eat broccoli again. Well, he raised taxes and Barbara made him eat his broccoli anyway.
America must do something. We cannot let this man become president. Consider this: if W. promises to stay out of presidential politics, Congress should give him Texas. Just give it to him! He can pump his oil til it runs dry, graze his fields unitl they turn into wasteland and baptize his subjects in the polluted Gulf waters, just keep him out of the White House. Would the nation really miss Texas anyway? Steak houses, cows, oil rigs and lousy football teams, there's just not much to Texas. It's worth the sacrifice.
Republican spinsters think they are just oh-so-clever when they link Al Gore to the Clinton administration. Dick Cheney, in his acceptance speech, says something to the effect of, "We will never be able to think of Al Gore without thinking of Bill Clinton." Wow, brilliant Dick, he served with him for eight years. However, it isn't Clinton's policy that Republicans would like you to think about when you see Al Gore, it's Monica Lewinsky. Gore wasn't cheating on his wife. No connection, Dick. Does anyone else think it's a bad idea to elect another guy named Dick to the executive office? Everyone should put down this paper right now. Call your congressman, we need a new amendment, no more Dicks in the White House.
Get off it. Gore is prudent and a great leader. The Gore-Lieberman ticket pairs two proven leaders, on top of a proven democratic platform. If you haven't noticed things are good, lets keep it that way.
Dick Cheney, on the other hand, is the last person that should become our vice president. He's a master of war, multi-millionaire and esteemed member of the corporate nobility. As Secretary of Defense, he allocated funds to Brown and Root services, a logistic company for the Pentagon. First, $3.9 million for a report, then another at $5 million. Eventually they sign a contract for $1.2 billion. When he's removed from office by Clinton, the unemployed Dick goes in search of a job. He promptly becomes CEO of Halliburton, owners of BSR. Politics as usual, or business as usual, for this Republican ticket there's no difference.
Presidential elections are not about the issues or experience. If they were, W. wouldn't have a cricket's chance in a hen house. Bush is simply a multi-millionaire running for president on the back of a questionable political legacy. He grew up with insulated privilege, and he plans to defend it. If you are white, upper class, heterosexual and Christian he'll protect yours too. If not, you're in for a rough four years.
