I Hate Being Force-Fed

I'm really pissed off by the fact that the media is force-feeding us Obama and Clinton and ignoring everyone else. I hate that the purpose of the media is to entertain, not to inform. I recently received an e-mail from Rusty asking me who Mike Gravel is. When I sent her a link to his campaign website she responded with "I watch the news! How the hell have I never even heard of this guy?!" This is truly not a bust on her because most people probably don't know either, and I didn't know until a few weeks ago. Plus, Rusty is a Republican and I can only name four of the Republican candidates off the top of my head. But it's a really sad comment on the state of the 2008 primary election. Have you watched any of the Democratic party debates? Which two candidates are standing in the middle? Which two candidates get at least twice as much time to talk? Here's a link to the YouTube debates; see for yourself.

I wanted to take a little bit of time to talk about the candidates who don't receive as much press. Mike Gravel doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell, but he is my personal favorite and is going to get my vote. I'm hoping to get the word out that there are choices besides Obama and Clinton. I'm actually probably more of a Libertarian than a Democrat, but I'm registered with the Democratic Party so those are the candidates I researched. Please keep in mind that I'm giving my opinions and this is in no way an unbiased discussion and the pros and cons of each candidate.

Joe Biden is a US senator from Delaware.

The good: He's against No Child Left Behind, wants to increase minimum wage, and is against the Defense of Marriage Act. He does have some good plans and ideas, but I think most of them require too much government involvement and are way too idealistic. I also have no idea where he thinks he's going to get the money for all this.

The bad: He has flip-flopped on the war; first supporting it, then saying we should go to war only after trying to end the conflict by diplomatic means, then supporting the war again, then saying he only supports it if Bush is honest with America, then calling for troop withdraw. He does not support legalizing marijuana and he thinks smoking in movies should affect the MPAA rating. He also supports affirmative action in college admissions.

Notable quote: "I've had a great relationship [with Indian-Americans]. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian Americans — moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."

Joe Biden on Where I Stand.com.

Christopher Dodd is a senator from Connecticut and the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

The good: Dodd is against the war (although he voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution in 2002) and he was not in agreement with the recent troop surge. He has some good ideas about health care and the environment, thinks the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is unconstitutional and is in agreement with stem cell research.

The bad: He supports free trade, which sends our jobs to other countries, he wants to relax immigration laws, and he is proposing mandatory community service. He also has received some questionable campaign contributions and frequently supports the ACLU.

Christopher Dodd on Where I Stand.com.

You've all heard of John Edwards. That's probably because he is third in campaign fundraising behind Obama and Clinton.

The good: He supports stem cell research and universal healthcare. He is against making it unconstitutional to burn the flag.

The bad: He's religious, which is fine with me, but I think it will interfere with his decision making; for example, he thinks prayer should be admitted to public schools. He also thinks religion should play a part in policy-making. He promotes mandatory community service, which I'm against because I don't think it's oxymoronic for the government to force us to volunteer.

John Edwards at Where I Stand.com

Mike Gravel is a former senator from Alaska. He is essentially broke and is probably running with less money than anyone else. In the two-hour CNN debate on June 2, Gravel was allowed to speak for 5 minutes and 37 seconds. He doesn't bullshit or beat around the bush and during the YouTube debates asked of the airtime given to most of the candidates, "Has this been fair so far?" to much applause.

The good: He helped to end the draft in Vietnam. He believes Bush should be impeached, believes the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is unconstitutional, is against No Child Left Behind, supports gay marriage, supports universal healthcare, and thinks we should treat drug addiction as a mental health problem, not a crime.

The bad: He came under fire for saying that everyone who died in Vietnam died in vain, but I don't necessarily see that as a negative. He won't win.

Notable quote: "The war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis."

Mike Gravel at Where I Stand.com.

Dennis Kucinich is a representative from Ohio.

The good: He supports the legalization of marijuana. He's against No Child Left Behind. He supports same sex marriage, stem cell research, and raising the minimum wage.

The bad: He flip flopped on abortion. A few years ago he described himself as pro-life, but then changed his mind. He's trying to ban the sale of handguns to civilians. He thinks religion should play a role in policy-making.

Dennis Kucinich on Where I Stand.com.

Bill Richardson is the governor of New Mexico.

The good: He has gone overseas several times to negotiate the release of American prisoners. He supports the legalization of marijuana and stem cell research. He's against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

The bad: He advocates affirmative action and the Defense of Marriage Act, thinks the HPV vaccine should be mandatory, and opposes term limits.

Bill Richardson at Where I Stand.com.