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Originally Posted by SquirrelQueen
And she's done an amazing job as a senator in New York.
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As someone who lives in New York, I beg to differ. She hardly represents the people of NY- those of us who aren't within her economic class. She ran on a platform of knowing whats best for NY, but told upstate and downstate voters two completely different strategies for doing so and hence has divided the state even further within our own legislature-which is quite the feat since our senator has nothing to do with our legislature!- something that had been happening for quite a while, but got decidedly worse with her second term and her false promises.
Right after 9/11 when the scandal with Whitman declaring the air clean around the WTC when it was toxic and the subsequent lawsuits against the city, state and feds (iirc on that one) for them refusing to compensate those who ended up needing extensive medical care, she vowed to make sure they received the help they needed. They're STILL waiting on the goods from that promise, and it's been over five years.
Within her work with the Senate itself, she voted to re-authorize the Patriot Act and has been less than consistent in her voting record. Her proposed economic policy leaves too many open questions, and is seemingly even more irresponsible than the one we currently follow. Her plan for health care lacks the funding necessary, something that added to its failure in 1996. You can even hear in her speeches that she's polarizing- it's always "and we can beat the Republicans!" or "the Republicans are scared now!" Erm- that's not how you get things done, and she's the only Congressman from any party that I've ever seen blame bad policy that she voted for on the opposite party.
I could go on and on with this, but I think you get the idea. Clinton wasn't elected because she was the best person for the job, she was elected because we had a choice of Clintion or John Spencer, a guy who used to be mayor of one of the worst run cities in my county, not to mention he was from downstate which didn't help him at all in the upstate counties. She won by default, not because she's good at what she does.
I do agree with you that Obama needs more experience, however, before anyone can accurately judge his potential for President. Give him another few years in the Senate and then we'll be able to have a solid foundation with him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gigglegirl
Personally if it could be possible, I'd love for there to be the separation of church and state like there should be. But I find this being hard to implement in all practicality--your values about where you stand on hot topics like abortion are largely guided by faith--so that's what would influence you in the back of your mind when posed that question.
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Separation of Church and State doesn't mean that your religion has no bearing on how one acts within Congress or as POTUS, etc., it's simply there so there is no official church akin to the Church of England. A religious figure will never make laws in the US, but that doesn't mean religion doesn't influence our laws. We were built on a solid Christian foundation- you're never going to erase that, and if it is erased, we won't be the US anymore. You're allowed to worship as you please, where you please, as long as someone else's rights aren't violated (ie: no sacrificing your neighbor's kids).
I'm just wondering: why does everyone find abortion to be such a debate for a Presidential candidate? It's not like the President can just decide to overturn Roe v. Wade or CASEY by himself; that's a matter for the Supreme Court to decide, and even in the unlikely event that it is reopened and overturned, it would go back to being a state's right to decide whether or not they want to allow abortion. Same with gun ownership (requires a constitutional amendment), and many other controversial topics.
I'm just wondering why people aren't more concerned about the things that really affect you- fiscal policy, our monetary system, the erosion of our civil liberties, etc.? Abortion is not high on the list of rights at risk- your Constitutional right to be left alone is.
In any way, I'm disappointed in my party (Republicans) and even the Democrats. With the exception of one "long shot" candidate, there's no one in either party that I can find myself agreeing with even 50%. They remind me of that Simpsons Halloween episode where Kodos and Kang ran for President- no matter who ends up POTUS, I don't see anything changing all that drastically.
