Women Voting for Clinton

For the first time in the history of the United States a woman has become a serious presidential candidate. Hilary Clinton not only has the reputation but now she has the cash to make a serious run at the White House. The only question for her is will women vote for her? According to an article written on cnn.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/01/electing.women.ap/index.html ), women set exceptionally high standards for other women running for public office. It states that women generally want a woman who runs to be almost picture perfect and represents them at a much higher standard. A poll conducted by the ANESP shows that women are quicker to support a female candidate and quicker to dismiss her according to gender. The quandry facing Clinton in the upcoming election is exponetinally more difficult because she has to show many more sides of her personality than her counterparts. She must be viewed as tough and responsive by men yet caring and appealing to women. Only the primary will determine if she has demonsrated these capablities.

Democrats Debate

The candidates for the right to represent the Democrats got into full swing last night at the University of South Carolina. All together 8 hopefuls mostly talked about the war in Iraq with very little confrontation. It was a safe topic for all the candidates as they all oppose the war. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards took a shot when he said "Sen. Clinton and anyone else who voted for this war has to search themselves and decide whether they believe they voted the right way." Sen. Hillary Clinton's response: "I've said many times, if I knew then what I know now, I would not have voted that way" Fresh off a vote to authorize more spending in Iraq but with a deadline to bring troops home, nearly all agreed the president should sign the bill, except for the most anti-war lawmaker in the group. "Every time you vote to fund the war, you're reauthorizing the war all over again," argued Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. He is not considered a legitmate contender in the race however.

Edwards Continues Campaign

John Edwards has announced that he will continue his second bid for the Presidency despite the return of his wifes cancer. This comes at a bad time for the Edwards family as Fmr.Sen Edwards is one of the favorites to win the Democratic ticket. While their is no cure for the type of cancer she has, it is treatable.

Internet and the Election

In 2004, the emphasis was heavily directed towards the younger voters and this upcoming election seems to only magnify that approach. This week, sites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Friendster are all allowing viable political candidates to set up pages or videos on their websites aimed specifically at a younger, more tech-savvy generation. While some are lagging more than others, candidates like Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and even Sen. Dennis Kuchinch (D-OH) have taken the lead and be more pro-active. To me this is the same gameplan laid out by Fmr. Pres. Clinton back in 92' when he appeared on MTV and answered varied questions from the first war in Iraq to even smoking marijuana. Fast forward 15 years and the resources available now are varied and cost effective. If a candidate can tap the "Gen Y" or "Gen X" in this upcoming election they will definatly be a force to be reckoned with. The problem is motivating them enought to get off the couch and vote which is a task in and of itself.

Democrats Iraq Plan

Several major Democrat politcal candidates have outlayed their Iraq pull out plan and they all seem to be strikingly similiar. Senators Obama and Clinton have a plan that enables the US to pull out all troops by 2009. Their plan is different than the Republicans with US forces acting strickly in a supporting role and almost as "Terrorist Police" north of Baghdad. They both seem to be taking a lot of heat from the left for being too soft on the war with Pres. Bush. The only candidate to go on record wishing that he could recount his vote is Fmr. Sen. John Edwards. He has stated repeadly that voting was a mistake and the war is a disaster. Experts have predicted that Sen. Clinton will have the toughest time with the Democratic party since she already is perceived as having a "Lover her Hate her" reputation and this will only hurt her with anti-war Democrats.

Gearing up for the Election

With many of the candidates already in the full swing of the campaign trail, we're going to take a look at how many of the candidates are shaping up in the pre-polls. In some of the most recent polls, Rudy Guliani and Sen. Barack Obabma seem to have the broadest appeal among voters. 59% of voters have stated that they would at least consider voting for Guliani while 57% would consider voting for Obama. These two were followed up by 52% for both Senators Clinton and McCain. Sen. Clinton however seems to have the distinct notation of having the largest percentage saying they would "def. not vote for" and "def. vote for" which will be very interesting to watch how it shapes the Democratic primaries. One question that was posed to voters that I found very intriguing was wether or not voters would turn out for FL Gov. Jeb Bush with a little over 16% saying that they would "definatly vote for". It had been rumored, (just rumors mind you) that there was a back door deal between Pres. Bush and Sen. McCain in 2000 that if McCain supported the presidents bid for re-election, Jeb would be the odds on favorite to be McCain's running mate in 2008. How reliable is that information? Not really if you ask me. Below you will find a link from Foxnews.com of recent polls taken.








http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/021507_release_web.pdf

2008 Republican Candidates

The field for the 2008 candidates boasts some pretty heavy hitters in the political field. The most prominent and leading contender so far has to be Fmr. NYC mayor Rudy Guiliani. In recent Quinipiacc polls, Guilliani seems to have the upper hand on the other potential candidates. Potential foes with the best possible shot are Fmr. Gov of MA Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, and possibly Fmr. Gov of NY George Pataki. The most intruiging candidate this coming fall is Mitt Romney. Romney has loads of experiance in both the private sector as well as the political landscapes. He was CEO of a prominent venture capital company and is also credited with almost single handly saving the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic games where he served as CEO as well. Despite his resume, most media attention seems to focus on his Mormon religion when he is interviewed. He is handling the questions gracefully as he makes the comparision that when Pres. John Kennedy was running, his practicing of the Catholic faith was a major point of topic as well. It will be very interesting to see if Guiliani will be able to keep his sizable popularity lead when the focus shifts to the debates

2008 Democratic Canidates

No one has been surprised the past few months as to who the big players are for next years election. Finally announcing her canidiacy, Hilary Clinton is one of some very well known political figures. Along with her, freshmen Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, and Fmr. Gov. Bill Vilsack are believed to be the front-runners to represent the Democrats in 08'. The most interesting official candidate is Fmr. Sen. and 04' VP candidate John Edwards of North Carolina. A respectable presidential campaign in 04' proved to be the catalyst for him to be picked as John Kerry's running mate. He has not held a public office since that election and it is unknown how his wifes battle with ongoing cancer will affect his campaign.