Presidential Elections For Dummies

Published on October 29, 2004 By DesignGuy In Politics

Ron Kohl, the editor or Machine Design magazine, has written an excellent article on the presidential election that sums up many of my feelings quite eloquently (check the attached link for the full article). Yes, it is an excellent and eloquent article because I agree with him.

In brief, Mr. Kohl points out that the major political parties are preying on the emotions of the average voters while avoiding the hard subjects such as medical care and medical costs. Both parties are guilty of talking down to voters in the hopes that you'll vote for their guy based on anything other than the facts.

Enjoy the article for what it is - an engineer's look at the presidential election and short commentary on social issues.

I'll be voting for Bush but with reservations. The big issues in the "W" White House have been terrorism and the war in Iraq. I am not happy with the Department of Homeland Defense - it has cost me to lose protections and freedoms that I enjoyed as an American citizen, all gone in the name of rooting out terrorists and fighting the "good fight" against terrorism. I don't like the President's trying to legislate his morality or his nearness to the far right religious nuts (if I had wanted Pat Robertson as president he would have got my vote). I don't like his stance on school vouchers, his under-funded directive for NASA, or the fact that nobody in his cabinet has been held accountable for the disaster that the war in Iraq has become. I am glad the US did depose Saddam Hussein, not only was it inevitable but the things that were discovered in Iraq including mass graves, children's prisons and the treatment of ordinary citizens at least somewhat justify the action from a moral standpoint. The war in Iraq has damaged America's credibility worse than anything else in the last 30 years though. While I don't believe in the UN, I do believe that stronger international backing for the war should have been secured before the ultimate action was taken.

If you are considering voting for Kerry I don't know what to say to you. Kerry has a plan for everything but he is playing it like a poker hand - you have to call before he'll show you all of his cards. From the research I've done it appears that Kerry will tell whatever group he is talking to whatever they want to hear with no regard to what he has previously gone on record saying. Kerry has based his entire political personae on 4 months of military service in the Vietnam era and that is something I find really distasteful as well. From what I can deduce, Kerry's social plans will promote even more of a welfare state and place a larger burden on the already overburdened middle class. I also think his voting record on major issues speaks volumes about the man. In short, I just don't trust him to be the man for the job. Your views might be different and I'd love to hear why I'm wrong in my beliefs (even as generalized and vague as I've stated them for this blog's purposes).

While your choice for president is a personal matter. I would like if everybody voted based on the facts as you interpret them while forgetting political affiliations and emotional arguments. I hope you get out and vote based on who you believe can do the best job for the country because these next 4 years are crucial.

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