Leading Democratic candidates Pros and Cons
Democratic Party, Presidential Candidate
Witten by Michael Vass
I want to remind everyone that on Saturday @ 2:30, TV One will have a live webcast of the Heartland Presidential Forum, featuring several leading Democratic Presidential candidates, and Republican candidates as well. This forum will feature candidates answering questions from the audience (and I don’t expect that any candidate will be planting questions for this).
I will be covering this Forum on Saturday, and you can expect a few posts from me, for TV One and everyone.
Considering the nature of the forum, and the fact that most Americans have not been following the candidates over the past year as much pundits and political bloggers, I thought that a short Pros and Cons of the leading Democratic candidates would be helpful. I intend to have a similar list for Republicans shortly.
I am only focusing on the leading candidates because of the short time until the primaries. I want to note one candidate that will be at the forum that I will not be doing a Pros and Cons for. Dennis Kucinich was the only candidate of either party to-date that answered any questions on Reparations for African Americans. His answer was for reparations. Every other candidate has refused to even speak on the subject.
With that noteworthy positions stated here is my list of Pros and Cons. I hope it helps those at the forum that get to ask questions, and everyone that will be voting. Please let me know your thoughts as well. [I am trying to be neutral, but of course that is not always possible in all issues. You may disagree with some of the items I list under either category. Let me know your reasons why you disagree, or agree, in the comments.]
-
Senator Hillary Clinton
- Wife of President Bill Clinton
- Long-time Healthcare advocate
- Determined
- A lawyer
- A current 2nd term Senator
- Well known internationally
- First female Presidential candidate with a chance
- Forgave the infidelity of President Clinton
- Various polls state ~1/2 country favors her
- Very liberal in most all policies
- Pro Abortion
- Pro-abortion
- Has never directly run or owned any business
- Entered elected office after career of President Clinton
- Initial attempt to pass Healthcare reforms failed horribly
- Consistently appears to hold no actual position on most policies
- Speaks like a lawyer
- A female candidate
- Various polls state roughly ½ the nation strongly dislikes her
- Staff has at least 2x planted questions in her public appearances
- Had committee member attack Republican candidates by surprise at CNN/YouTube debate
- Very liberal (supported MoveOn.org in Gen. Patreaus ad)
- Has received the most money from lobbyists and institutions of any candidate of any party
- Took $1 million from wanted fugitive
- Involved in multiple scandals
- Pro-Illegal Immigration
- Anti-death penalty
- Anti-school vouchers
- Lawyer
- Current 1st term Senator
- Healthcare advocate
- First African American candidate with a chance
- Liberal in most policies
- Oprah Winfrey is major supporter
- Not Hillary Clinton
- Gained multiple former long-time Clinton supporters
- Consistently against Iraq war
- Charismatic, compassionate
- Pro-abortion
- Strong individual citizen support (internet donations)
-
Cons
- Lawyer
- Relative short public office experience
- Black
- Has interracial parents
- Lived in an Islamic nation (as a youth)
- Allegedly a smoker
- No military service
- Non-traditional name
- Pro-Illegal Immigration
- Anti-school vouchers
- Pro-immediate withdrawal from Iraq
- Pro-abortion
- Previously ran for Vice President
- Former Senator
- Advocate of the poor
- Not the psychic of the same name
- Native Southerner
- Has good looks
- Wife has cancer
Anti-Iraq war (sort of – voted in favor of war) - Pro-abortion
Cons
- Lost the election as Vice-President
- Long-time politician
- $400 haircuts
- Lawyer (firm made money on questionable circumstances)
- Wife has cancer
- Not know for a particular strong stance on any issue (except the poor)
- Pro-immediate withdrawal from Iraq
- Pro-abortion
- Anti-school vouchers
- A bit of a sensationalist
Pros
Cons
Senator Barack Obama
Pros
John Edwards
Pros
Hopefully this information will be helpful. By no means is this the definitive Pro and Con list. There are several issues I have excluded, and many of the items I have mentioned deserve greater scrutiny. But this is accurate and my opinion. I look forward to hearing yours.
admin @ November 29, 2007
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“Dennis Kucinich was the only candidate of either party to-date that answered any questions on Reparations for African Americans. His answer was for reparations. Every other candidate has refused to even speak on the subject.” After I heard this question I had to restrain myself from throwing something at the TV. The idea that someone would even consider THINKING about that question just reconfirms the opinion that the rest of the world has of us. That the people of this country are uneducated and are detached from reality. If there was someone still alive today that suffered through that atrocity that this country condoned, I believe that they should be the most privileged citizen. But for someone to try and cash in on someone else’s suffering makes you just as bad as the slave owners. They profited from the suffering of the African, Chinese, and South American slaves of this country. How can anybody say that they are any different if they ask reparations for a PAST generations suffering? The time that reparations SHOULD HAVE happened didn’t and that is something that historians and future generations will always look back on as a missed opportunity that this country had to try and right or at least relieve some of the wrongs that were done to the people that were forced into slavery. There is a BIG difference between being discriminated against and being put into slavery. The reason that no politician will really answer this question is because they are afraid of being seen as politically incorrect and the uneducated in this country calling out “racism”. This country will never move fully past the race issue till people (black and white) stop living in the past and start looking and MOVING to the future.
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Nobody is Pro Abortion - they are Pro Choice. It’s EXTREMLY insulting to the Pro Choice movement when people like yourself refer to it as Pro Abortion. Pro Choice people do not favor abortion - they favor the right of a woman to choice what she does with her body.
I think Barak is pro-life, am I wrong?
The VP choices are the most important ingrediant in this Election. Everyone knows that Obama has a Bulls Eye Target on his Back, and McCain is on Death’s Door. I cannot figure out why none of our TV, Radio, Newsprint, or Magazine Newsies have picked up on this Point?