After
throwing my support to John Kerry last
week, I got a number of comments and emails from people, asking
for the details of how I came to that decision. So, I wrote up
a list of the points I consider most important right now:
- Marijuana Policy: The point of this essay is to prove
that I'm not a single-issue voter... however, I care a great
deal about this issue, and do
use it as a litmus test. A candidate with the guts and sense
to say things I agree with on the issue of marijuana is a candidate
I expect I'll otherwise agree with too, and Kerry has been saying
(some of) the things I'd like to hear. The only candidates who
scored better than Kerry's
A- on the Voter's
Guide created by the Granite Stater's for Medical Marijuana
were Kucinich
and Moseley-Braun.
On the other hand, Dean,
Edwards,
and Lieberman
all do very poorly on this issue, and for me, those are big strikes
against them.
- Electability: I think a lot of folks would agree that
the most important thing is to choose someone who can beat Bush,
and as I study the candidates, the guy I think has the best chance
of doing that is Kerry.
- Military Service: Given the importance of electability,
I like Kerry's military background. Bush has made war a major
issue for everyone, yet he himself has never fought in one. I
therefore think that a veteran would be the best Democrat to
run against Bush. Clark is my second favorite choice for the
same reasons.
- Current Stance on War: While I favor candidates with
military service, I'm very opposed to military action, and I'm
hoping our next president will start fewer wars than the current
one has. Given this, I do have some issues with the fact that,
at one time, Kerry did support the president's actions in Iraq.
However, I think what matters more is what he's saying right
now. I believe strongly that people can and should be able to
change their minds, and support for something given once but
now denied can and should be forgiven. (After all, there was
a time when I myself was in favor of the war on drugs!) OK, so
Kerry was duped. A lot of people were. The president told us
they had all these WMDs, and he scared us all into thinking that
we were about to be attacked. (Remember how serious it sounded
last February, when Colin Powell addressed the UN? Even my father-in-law
was temporarily convinced by that speech.) But after it was all
over, we found out it was nothing but a bunch of lies. I say,
mistakes made while believing lies can be forgiven. The important
thing is to wake up and listen to what's being said now, after
those lies have been exposed.
- Core Democratic Values: Actually, I don't really consider
myself a Democrat anymore... I'd say I'm an Independent-Green-Libertarian.
But I'm certainly more of a Democrat than I am a Republican,
so the question of how well each candidate adheres to classic
Democratic ideals is important. That's why I don't like Lieberman...
he's just too much of a moderate. This question leaves me a little
unsure of Clark, who apparently used to be a Republican... but
like I said, I believe in accepting people for who they've changed
into, not for who they used to be, so Clark remains my second
choice.
- Likeability: If all else were equal (and in many ways,
they are here) the question really becomes this: who do you like
the best? Having listened to all of these guys talk and interact
for the past many months, I've decided that I really do like
Kerry the best. He seems like a nice guy. On the other hand,
I don't like Dean. He has good ideas, but he just seems to me
like an angry jerk.
So there you have it, my reasons for endorsing Kerry. I hope
you'll vote for him in the primaries, if you can. (And if you
haven't registered,
don't forget to! (The deadline in Maryland
is February 10th!))
Andrew Looney
www.wunderland.com/Andy
