Presidential Endorsements

I know its not really related to my adventures in Thailand, but I have strong feelings about members from each party.

If the fact that I might endorse a candidate that you do not support will make you scream, cry, hate me, foam at the mouth, turn a bright shade of red, develop explosive diariah, create a voodoo doll of yours truly, disown me, disembowel me, sign me up for 1,000 magazine subscriptions, fly over to Thailand to yell in my face (okay, if you want to spend the $ to do that one, be my guest), repeatedly bang your head on a table muttering "Ducacus, definitely Ducacus", then please skip this entry.

My endorsement for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States is Barack Obama. The race is essentially between Obama and Hillary Clinton, and I think Senator Obama is a superior choice.

While I am a bit concerned about his lack of leadership experience, I think he brings a message of hope and unity that Senator Clinton cannot match. Senator. Obama is a charismatic figure who would serve as a shining example of how far American has come over the last fifty years, as has the potential to as bring people into the political process who have never before been there. In my mind, he is the first African American whose candidacy is not solely defined by his race and racial issues. He has much more potential to unite people than his current rival.

While I have no doubt that Senator Clinton is an extremely intelligent person, I think the train to her coronation needs to be derailed. I read somewhere that she had thirty-five years of experience in government. That is simply false. Serving as the first lady of Arkansas and the United States does not qualify one to be the president of the United States. While there is no doubt that she has been around for many important decisions and even contributed, she has no executive experience. Her political experience is serving as the Senator from New York, a job she won largely because of her celebrity status as the first lady.

A friend here in Bangkok told me that my daughters could have someone to look up to if Senator Clinton was elected. What message does that send to my daughters? If they are smart, work hard, and marry a man who winds the presidency that they might someday be president. Truthfully, I think it will be an important and historic day when the U.S. has its first woman president. I would prefer to see a woman who has earned her own way rather than one who owes most all of her political existence to her husband's success.

Also, I think that Senator Clinton would be a divisive figure in the White House. If you have enjoyed the extreme partisanship of the last 16 years, you'll have another 4 or 8 years of it with Senator. Clinton. Even if Senator Clinton graciously extended the hand of bi-partisanship, I'm not sure that her opponents wouldn't bite it.

As far as the Republicans, the choice is just as clear, and the man is John McCain. I supported McCain both financially and with my vote in 2000. I agree with Senator McCain on many issues, but also greatly respect that fact that he does not march lock and step with his political party. He has demonstrated the ability to work with his colleagues across the aisle on many occasions. Quite simply he is his own man.

The Senator form Arizona has a tremendous amount of experience, especially in the area of the military and foreign policy. If you believe that character counts, then I'm not sure that there has been a person with higher character run for the White House in my life time. I'm not talking about a person who says all the right things, but rather a person who has shown tremendous personal courage.

For those of you who do not know, Senator McCain was a naval pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam war. He was captured and severely tortured. The Viet Cong learned that Senator McCain's father and grandfather were high ranking admirals and decided to release him as part of a PR campaign. McCain refused to be released, and insisted on staying with his fellow troops in captivity. He paid for his decision with broken bones and further torture, but demonstrated enormous personal character. Do you really think that a guy who stuck to his principals in the face of torture and possible death is going to be afraid to make difficult decisions because of his political future.

The only issue I have with McCain is his age. I would expect him to pick someone as his VP who would also make a strong candidate.

Rudolph Giuliani would be my second choice. His experience as Mayor of New York City gave him enormous executive experience, and his handling of the 9/11 tragedy was rightfully praised. Still, the former Mayor has a ton of personal baggage, including corruption charges against his police commissioner and numerous divorces. While he would probably not appeal strongly to the Evangelical type which could hurt him in the south and Midwest, his more liberal views on social issues might be able to put states in play that are normally safely Democratic.

I'm not a fan of Mitt Romney. He's a bit too slick and I just do not trust him. While some people might find this abhorrent, the biggest thing I have against him is his religion. I just don't want a Mormon in the White House.

Mike Huckabee would be a political disaster for the Republicans. While his folksy manner and evangelical credentials might attract a potion of the Republican base, I think it will result in a huge win for the Democrats.

Fred Thompson is simply not a force in this election at all. Many Republicans put a lot of hope in the former Law in Order star, but they have to be disappointed. He has failed to inspire Republicans, and really hasn't articulated a compelling reason why he should be elected.

I do find the mad scramble to be labeled as the heir to Ronald Reagan a bit amusing. While I think that Reagan served very well as president, the Republican deification of him is a bit much. Its almost akin to worshiping a false idol. Honestly, I'm waiting for a Republican to pull out a paternity report and proudly declare that they are the real heir of Ronald Reagan.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Ron Paul, and so should you. I think the libertarian's slogan should be "Fighting Last Centuries Battles Today". His view on trade and the federal reserve are right out of the conspiracy theorist cook books. He actually has advocated returning to the gold standard, which the U.S. abandoned in 1933. We certainly haven't prospered as a nation since then, have we? And the recent revelation about the news letters bearing his name with racial slurs at best demonstrate poor judgement in his much too cavalier attitude about their existence, and at worst a warped and twisted view of the world.