July 24, 2003

Which Democrat?

Kevin Holtsberry is asking the Blogosphere which Democratic candidate you would pick if you had to choose one. On the one hand this is something of a silly question, because we're still fifteen months out and the last thing I'm thinking about is who the best candidate is now. However, such speculation can be entertaining as well, and it also offers a chance to review what is important in a candidate.

The primary duty of the President is to keep the country safe, so the candidates' positions on defense will be a key factor in how I view them. However, I'm also greatly concerned with civil liberties, so I'm not as much interested in candidates who are looking to defend the country as I am in those who are planning to eliminate the threat we face. I also want a candidate who will defend the Constitution, as his oath of office demands. This is an area where President Bush has fallen well short of the mark, whether with his refusal to veto the unconstitutional campaign finance reform bill or with his willingness to hyperextend the welfare state in defiance of Article I, he's dropped the ball on this more times than I'd care to count. Then again, it's doubtful any of the Democratic nominees will do any better in this respect, but it's an important issue to me nonetheless. So how do the Nazgul stack up?

Howard Dean: I can live with his opposition to the Iraq war, as I think reasonable people can disagree on that issue. But I won't countenance his hypocracy on Liberia; if invading Iraq was wrong, then there's no argument that can make a Liberia intervention right. Dean's foreign policy comments take him right out of the running.

John Edwards: I'm leery of him off the bat because he's a trial lawyer in a party dominated by the trial lawyers. What kind of bones might he throw their way if elected? But on the question of defense, I've seen nothing yet to indicate he would be very different from our current course, so it's not impossible I could see casting a vote for him.

Dick Gephardt: Let's see, he's willing to trample the Constitution to defend whatever he thinks is the right thing to do. He's now claiming we're less safe now than we were four years ago. And he's bought and paid for by the unions. I used to think Gephardt was one of the grown-ups in politics, but it's clear those days are now behind him.

Bob Graham: He's a fringe candidate for a reason. His loopy suggestions of impeachment bring his mental balance into question, and his foreign policy doesn't reassure me.

John Kerry: He lies. Everything he says and does seems carefully calculated to appeal to one group or another, rather than to establish what he believes or wants to do. Integrity is an important characteristic in a President, and Kerry has none.

Dennis Kucinich: I'm very much in favor of not electing people who've already bankrupted one public agency to give them a shot at a bigger kitty. Kucinich may be good for some snappy lines, but he's not a serious candidate.

Joe Lieberman: Lieberman was a big disappointment in 2000. Granted, he was running as Vice President, and in that position you've got to subordinate your beliefs to that of the Presidential candidate. But Lieberman's willingness to turn his back on so many honorable positions simply to stay on the ticket did turn my stomach. Worse, he's continued to play that game as a candidate, when he's free to say what he really thinks. Nonetheless, Lieberman is solid on the war, and I believe he's still got more integrity than anyone else we're looking at here. I could definitely see voting for him.

Carol Moseley Braun: I don't really know why she's bothering to run, except possibly for the attention. She's a crook who's already been a bad senator. I see no redeeming features here.

Al Sharpton: He makes Braun look like Mother Theresa. A racist demagogue and the Left's answer to David Duke, the fact he can be taken seriously as a candidate raises countless issues about the Democratic Party.

It looks like I'm in some agreement with Kevin here. Lieberman is the class of the candidates, and if he gets the nomination I'll feel more secure about the election.

However, I'm not as worried as Kevin about the other candidates. America has survived Jimmy Carter, Warren Harding and James Buchanan. For my friends on the Right, you'll note we survived the Clinton years. For my friends on the Left, we made it through Reagan, too. America is a remarkably robust system that is not truly vulnerable to the vagaries of one individual. Whoever grabs the gold ring in November 2004, we'll survive.

Posted at 12:55 PM | Politics | TrackBack (0)