Vice Presidents

Sen. Joeseph Biden...

I tend to like Sen. Biden a lot, however, I like him much more in the arena of the United States Senate then in the Naval Observatory where the Vice President resides. I like Sen. Biden because he is blunt, tells it as it is, and knows his stuff on almost everything --- especially foreign affairs, where I tend to agree with him the most. At the same time the reason he wouldn't make the best vice president is because he is blunt, tells it as it is, and could overshadow Sen. Obama in the White House Situation Room --- which is supposedly what Sen. Obama wants. Sen. Obama has often said he wants to be challenged when it comes to the tough issues, especially in times of crisis.

Overall, Sen. Biden will help the Obama ticket because he will be able to take the brunt of the foreign policy criticism Sen. Obama has been challenged with in recent weeks. At the same time, he can't take it all. Adding someone like Sen. Biden, who could be a heart beat from being president, to the ticket, doesn't make him the one who has to make the tough and quick decisions, and thus doesn't solve the problem of Obama's inexperience totally. Yes, it helps, but it doesn't make it a slam dunk.

I think that Sen. Biden's life story is one that is extremely compelling. Sen. Biden grew up with humble roots and when he first got elected to the Senate his wife and daughter died in a car accident, his two sons were spared but had to recover for quite some time. Sen. Biden told his sons that he wouldn't leave them and thus he commuted on a train from Delaware to DC every day so he could be with his family. What commitment and honor... look it up on a map, the commute from Delaware to DC is not easy. Sen. Biden is a man with extraordinary character, from what I have read about him, and to be totally honest I am overall glad he was chosen to be placed on the ticket.

On the other hand, I need to criticize Sen. Biden a little more and also criticize Sen. McCain. In the case of Sen. Biden: You can't claim to be Sen. McCain's friend and then go on the attack. You can't claim that Sen. McCain would be a great president and say he has become a right-wing crazy. Sen. McCain, like Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden are all gifted and extraordinary people, people I am proud to call my fellow Americans and people who will do great things if elected to the oval office.

In the case of Sen. McCain you can't expect to make fun of Sen. Obama's popularity in, to be totally honest, ABSOLUTELY pathetic campaign ads calling him the One, and expect people to think you are a honestly nice guy who wants change as much as Sen. Obama. Baloney! Also, figure out how many houses you have and own up to it. The Obama camp rode McCain's behind all week for 'forgetting' how many houses he had... when it was obvious that he didn't know how to put the political spin on the question and answer it. It happens to candidates all the time and it is making me believe that McCain is not running this campaign like he wants to or the way that would be best for him. Its the problem Vice President Gore had and Sen. Kerry had. They didn't run a campaign that reflected themselves. McCain shouldn't have to think, if I say seven then I will get in trouble, so what do I say... oh I will get back to you on that. He didn't forget he didn't know the formulated answer to say and thus did what he could to get out of the situation. To follow that up, I am quite upset with the way McCain has run his campaign because I don't think it is reflective of his character, personality, and best attributes. He is being dictated to by the RNC and the RNC is going to kill their candidate unless they back away and let McCain be McCain and not pander to the right wing of the right wing party.

Although this election seems to be about change (all over), the typical campaigning that is being waged by the candidates is anything but the change I can believe in. It is making me quite upset every time I hear the stupid "change we can believe in" again and again when everything I see is the same. Change starts from day one, it starts from the campaign, it starts with the way you live your everyday life, it starts with your tv ads, it starts with the way you address the other person, its not a slogan that you paste on a bumper stickers.

09/06/08
Well... maybe you have been checking this post for an update on the Sarah Palin VP pick, and the truth is, I have been trying to formulate my opinion on this quite surprising choice. So here it goes for the people who want to know.

I think that Gov. Palin was a obviously surprising choice and I think it will be a big flop or it will be a great choice, and I am leaning towards the great choice side of the debate. She seems to be an intelligent, focused, charismatic, and eloquent individual. I am happy that we have a woman in the race, not for the sole sake of having a woman on a ticket, but because it serves as a sign that our country really is progressing. I was quite impressed with Gov. Palin's ability to give a well presented speech at the convention last week.

I am a little worried that Gov. Palin is a little inexperienced being from a state with a small population and literally geographically isolated from the rest of the American public. Considering I feel like one of our top priorities needs to be to restabilish our world reputation, picking someone who has zero foriegn policy experience is troubling to me as well.

I must say something to the issue of her Daughter Bristol. I think that it is admirable and responsible of Bristol choosing to have her child. I actually have been thinking and praying for Bristol and her boyfriend because that has to be a really tough position to be in, and no one deserves their personal mistakes on the front of national newspapers. I also can't imagine the pressure that they both feel now when making decisions for themselves and their decision's impacts on the campaign, etc. At the same time, I almost think that Gov. Palin and Sen. McCain are using this as a perfect opportunity to bring social conservative issues to the forefront in a hope to get them excited about the ticket and make them vote in November because there had been worry that they would stay home. I think that if this happens to be the case, which I am not 100% sure about, leaning towards the no side actually, then I will have lost a lot of respect for the Maverick and his choice for VP.

On the other hand if we return to issues, I think that Bristol's case shows very clearly that abstinence only education is not a very responsible way of looking at youth sexual education. I hope that we stay away from issues like this however and focus on issues of the economy, foreign policy, health care, and ethics reform for this election --- as I see them as much more important topics.

I do think that Gov. Palin and her entire family are very beautiful and it will be interesting to see how much she impacts the election in the next --- less then 60 days before the election. I am very much looking forward to how well she holds up to Sen. Biden in the VP debate, because everyone knows that he is a skilled politician with great debating skills.

It will be fun.