Rob CainAs students begin to flip through channels on television, they will notice a large amount of political advertisements. That’s right. It’s that time again. The commercials students will be seeing are for candidates running for the 2004 presidential election.
The primaries have not officially happened yet but there are numerous amounts of candidates running for each party. There are nine candidates running in the primaries to become the Democratic Party candidate to run for office. Then there are at least seven candidates running to be the presidential candidates for the Green Party, Libertarian Party and the Independent Party. Running also along with all the new candidates is the current president George W. Bush.
Junior Kym Benedict, education major, and her boyfriend, Adam Gray, have been following Bush’s presidency and had a lot to say about his run in office for these past four years. Both Benedict and Gray are registered Republican. However, during the 2000 presidential election Gray was the only one who was registered to vote and chose to vote for Bush. Gray said, “Bush was better than Gore and there was no question in my mind where my vote was going.” Even though Benedict was not old enough to vote she feels that she probably would have voted for Bush as well. That was the first and last thing the two agreed on.
Gray felt that Bush has been keeping up with everything he has said he was going to do from square one. Gray said, “Bush has done a good job getting non-abortion laws passed and the tax relief Bush passed was good as well.”
Benedict, on the other hand, had a different opinion. Benedict said, “I don’t feel as though Bush has kept up his end of the bargain. I think that a lot of what he originally said was just to get financial support. I also feel that he cannot live up to everything he has said because once in office there are other people who need to give their input also and Bush has to take that into consideration, which may change Bush’s original thoughts.”
Junior Kim Hope, education major, agrees with Benedict. Hope, who is also a registered Republican, said, “Bush hasn’t really kept up with his promises from 2000 but then you have to ask what president actually follows through with what he originally says?”
Benedict went on to say she feels that Bush has done some good things during his presidency but at the same time he has done some not so good things. Benedict basically disagreed with everything Gray has to say on the same issue. Benedict said, “The unions have been losing benefits and Bush has to gradually take people of welfare so that they can get the training necessary to keep and maintain a job and there is not a sudden change. The No Child Left Behind is good. However it back fires on teachers and students because no one is checking up to make sure the program works and is effective.”
As for Bush’s future in the White House, Gray and Benedict yet again disagree. Gray said, “Bush will most likely win the 2004 election by a slim margin but the election will not be as close as the previous election.” Gray continued on by saying that Bush’s re-election will be based on what is presently going on in Iraq and what Bush is doing to try and revive the economy.
On the other hand Benedict said, “Bush will not be re-elected because only the upper class would vote for him and there are not enough of the upper class to put Bush in office.” Hope said, “I believe that Bush will spend another four years in the White House. The only way at this point Bush wouldn’t end up in office again would be if there was a major scandal that Bush had been involved with.”
Gray did disclose the fact that in the 2004 election it is most likely that he will be voting for Bush. Gray said, “My reasoning for voting for Bush is that he has done fine so far and I would like him to continue what he is doing now in office.” Benedict isn’t sure where her vote will go in 2004. Benedict said, “My vote may go to Bush but I will have to see what the other candidates have to say before I can make a final decision.”
Either way there is still a long campaign trail awaiting all these candidates.
Posted on the web by: Rob Cain
