if not bush, then who?
by Elly Kranz
Published: January 1, 2008
Fall of ‘07. The leaves were changing here in Michigan and it was beautiful weather. Yet, this is not why I was excited. Oh no. All I could think was “Only one more year of Bush. Only 365 more days of this crap.” This was all well and good, but, as a voter and citizen of this great country, I had a big decision to make: If not Bush, then who?
As a woman, my mind went immediately to Hillary. She’s a strong, independent woman. Why not have her in office? I would sit down and listen to whatever she had to say, hang on every word. Yet, the more she spoke, the more I doubted that she was the right candidate. It wasn’t her stand on issues, for on most things we agree: minimum wage increase, bring our boys home, be a decent human being. You know - Democratic and Liberal values. It was the moment I watched the democratic debate. She was up there, the only woman amongst equally intelligent men, and the moment they started to oppose her, the air changed. You could tell she felt attacked, you could tell she felt oppressed, no matter what she stated after the fact.
As I moved on through my Hillary phase, I immediately moved to Obama. He’s smart, charming, younger, charismatic and passionate. I like what he’s saying, I like what he’s doing, and I like that he is young enough to not be completely jaded and corrupted by the political system. He’s the perfect Oprah story. *cough*
I even looked at the republican candidates. I enjoy having a favorite in each party. I still don’t know much about many of them, but the ones that I did research, of course, did not reach my standards. They are both broken records. McCain can’t stop talking about the war, and Guiliani has nothing going for him. “*skip* I helped New York through 9/11. *skip* I helped New York through 9/11… ” etc. They are both excellent men, but they just aren’t president material.
All in all, when it comes down to it, anyone will look good this election season. Why? Because they aren’t Dub-ya. It’s like eating crap for four years and then somebody offering you some compost. It will be months of personal attacks and slanderous ads, nothing we Americans haven’t weathered before. All we can hope for is a change, a fresh start.
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