WHOM TO VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER (4-2004)

The primary elections aren’t even over yet, but it doesn’t 
really matter. Voters are already starting to ask 
themselves if they want Bush for another four years, or if 
John Kerry should replace him as the nation’s leader.

It will be a tough choice, as it stands now, because 
neither candidate seems to offer much. Bush apparently has 
no exit plan for the Iraq war, and Kerry can do little more 
than complain about Bush’s policies.

There are trade offs, to be sure. At least there are for 
those of us who like to straddle the fence. Yes, I realize 
I’ve been labeled as a liberal extremist by my ultra-
conservative detractors, but I like to call myself an 
“extreme moderate.” I am strongly liberal on some issues, 
and strongly conservative on others.

I’m going to have a difficult time making up my mind which 
candidate will get my vote in November. So to help me 
decide, I went to the respective Web sites of John Kerry 
and George Bush. In the span of 30 minutes, I learned 
considerably more about where Kerry stands on the issues 
than I’ve learned from watching his TV sound bites for the 
past several months.

When I read Kerry’s policy view on technology, I began to 
think my choice was getting easier. Kerry supports an all-
out effort to find alternative fuel sources; he supports 
biotechnology, and he wants to lead an effort to provide 
broadband and wi-fi Internet access for everyone.

More importantly, he is a supporter of the tremendously 
important stem cell research. This research has the 
potential to be a panacea for curing all kinds of genetic 
diseases. Yet the president has put a roadblock in front of 
researchers, preventing them from using any but a few 
substandard embryonic stem cell lines.

On the other hand, Bush is a big supporter of NASA’s plans 
to expand the space program. He wants to go back to the 
moon and then go to Mars. Since a huge amount of consumer 
technology got its start with the space program, expanding 
manned space exploration can do nothing but enhance our 
lives in the years to come, not to mention augmenting our 
knowledge of other planets and how life may have evolved on 
them.

Kerry, however, has had little to say about the space 
program in general. I couldn’t find anything on his Web 
site about his position on the matter.

The real dilemma with Kerry is his pesky support of 
affirmative action programs and the expansion of civil 
rights laws. Affirmative action was probably one of the 
worst ideas ever to come out of Washington, even back in 
the 1960s when some arguments could be made for its 
necessity. Today, it remains a relic from the age of 
rampant discrimination. It serves no purpose other than to 
remind everybody that race is somehow important when making 
decisions on whom to hire, or on whom to admit into 
college.

But I still have a few months to ponder my preferences. 
There are a lot more issues to consider besides the ones 
I’ve mentioned here. Foreign policy is a big one, as is the 
economy, education, and health care. 

The fact that one candidate is a republican and the other 
is a democrat makes no difference to me. I’ve cast votes 
for both parties in the past, and once or twice for a third 
party candidate. The issues are much more important than 
party affiliation.

Of course, there is always the possibility that one 
candidate or the other will make a major blunder before the 
election. It’s happened before, though usually during the 
primary races. But major blunders notwithstanding, it is 
important for everyone who plans to cast a vote to educate 
themselves on the issues and on the stance each candidate 
takes toward them.

Forget the broadcast news sound bites. Go to the Web sites 
of the candidates at georgebush.com and johnkerry.com. Let 
each one tell you his views on the important issues of the 
day. Then vote for the one that comes closest to thinking 
as you do.