Senator John F. Kerry is challenging President George W. Bush’s position as commander in chief of the United States of America. In what has already been called an historic election, these two political opponents have been battling it out for the past several months. They have worked tirelessly to hone and deliver clear and concise messages.
Kerry has been a Senator from Massachusetts for the past 20 years. He fought in the Vietnam War. He is pro-choice. He is against the death penalty, except for in cases of terrorism. He supported the Assault Weapons ban and would hope to seek further legislation if elected.
He considers himself a conservative liberal, whilst his opponents accuse him of being a leftist. Kerry is a catholic, but believes in the separation of church and state. He speaks out against Bush’s foreign policy, putting emphasis on the ongoing war in Iraq. Kerry voted to give the President the power to go to Iraq, but he said he never expected the president to use it without international support.
He believes Bush is abusing our troops in Iraq and claimed in his campaign book Our Plan For America, “They are effectively using a stop-loss policy and the Individual Ready Reserve call-up as a back-door draft.”
Bush is anti-abortion and would support a constitutional amendment banning abortion. He actively seeks an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marriage. He was against hate-crime rules applying to gays.
He is a born-again Christian and does not believe in the separation of church and state. He is for the death penalty. He was against the Assault Weapons ban, and is pro-gun. He does not believe Global Warming exists. In a reversal of American practice since the birth of our nation, Bush believes in pre-emptive warfare to protect against future threats to America. He stands by his decision to occupy Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein, and said in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, “September 11th requires our country to think differently.”
During this campaign season, political attacks ads have been used by outside sources from both sides known as 527’s under McCain-Feingold that aren’t limited in funding and aren’t held to the same standards as ads from a candidate.
On both sides, arguments have mounted against character, vision and past. Kerry has been accused of lying about his Vietnam record, and Bush has been accused of lying about Weapons of Mass Destruction. These Political Action Committees are seen by many as a way for the candidates to go dirty while keeping their hands clean.
Polls indicate that this is going to be one of the closest elections in history. A “get out the vote” drive is occurring across the nation. The Republican Party, the Democratic Party and independent groups such as Rock The Vote have been registering people across the country.
The Associated Students of Yuba College registered students on the Marysville Campus between September 27 and October 1 in the cafeteria. With the election of 2000 still fresh in the memories of students, many are voting with the thought that every vote matters, and that a small percentage could decide who the next president will be.
Comment Policy: Comments are welcomed and encouraged. However, the editorial board reserves the right to edit or delete, without notice, any comments submitted to the blog. For more details, see our full Comment Policy.