I want your vote

Open Letter To The Democratic Party: How You Could Have Had My Vote<o:p>
</o:p>

What a wonderful essay. This goes to forward my friend's comment about how close the two sides are and further exhibits my naiveté. The most interesting thing for me is that I totally agree with her on nearly every point, and I came down to being a Kerry supporter. For the points we don’t agree on, allow me to elucidate:
<o:p></o:p>

  • I make a lot of money… a lot more than her anyway. Yet, I would be more than willing to give up some of it to the government to get other people off of poverty or help the middle class. I did not see Kerry’s view as demonization… just pandering to the majority, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
  • I do not view terrorism as a major concern. It’s like being concerned about a meteor strike. Yep, it could happen. Yep, if we spent enormous amounts of money we MIGHT stop it. But the organizations were already in place to stop it (and did) before 9/11. And now that 9/11 has happened, we’ll be that much more sensitive to it. But ultimately, I look at countries like the <st1:country-region st="on">England</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, who have had to deal with far more attacks for a far longer time and I see more logic in the way their government works than we are showing. Basically, I think we need to make sure our internal forces (FBI, police, etc) are strong and well-funded, and then put it out of our mind.<o:p>
    </o:p>
  • Without terrorism, the environment and science become my two biggest issues. This is not really a point of difference; more a prioritization difference. Nontheless, I had to go with a candidate who supported my positions on these two issues more closely.

If it’s any help, I want your vote for candidates who support my issues first and foremost. I want it in 2006 and 2008 and 2010 and every election thereafter. Help me understand how to make you happy to give it to me.

D