Elonka wrote:
] Amen. It infuriates me to hear political candidates accuse the
] President of "misleading" people, when those candidates are
] doing their level best to do misleading of their own!

i can't speak for the candidates, but the misleading i heard was the justification of the war on the basis of a) Weapons of Mass Destruction and b) Links to Al Queda, both of which were presented as absolute fact, and both of which were designed to prey upon people's fears in order to garner support for the war. Both of those justifications have been shown to be tenuous, as best. If the president had brought this issue to the public on the basis of saddam being a generally dangerous and unsavory influence, who has committed atrocities among his people, and who serves as an example for others who would like to commit such atrocities on us, fine. If he had won support from the public and from congress on the basis of that argument, fine. But that's not what happened. I call that misleading.

] this mudslinging crap does nothing for them except to lose
] my vote.

this statement i couldn't agree with more. negative campaigning, especially in a primary, does nothing but sow disillusionment and disinterest in politics. It inherently serves to disengage people from the political process because it makes them feel that they are working for nothing, that their efforts are being disparaged, and that their candidate is being unfairly damaged. Likewise, why does john kerry need my support? his campaign AGAINST the other candidates (not FOR the nomination) isn't going to be aided by my voice. i certainly disagree with many of the things our president has done, and i'm likely to align with a candidate who has similar feelings, but there are limits to how much negativism is allowable, and at what point you transition drawing attention to a problem into ranting on a single topic, this is a relevant metric.

so far, Carol Mosely Braun is the only candidate who has behaved with nothing but class, and hasn't once sunken to the level of attacks. Alas for the realities of politics.

RE: Mr. O'Neill and Iraq