Mary's Musings

Senator John McCain, presidential candidate and party hopeful, has poised himself for a real knock-down-and-dirty fight to the White House this fall. By selecting Sarah Palin for his VP runningmate, McCain is serious about reaching out to the female voter, many of whom feel left behind after Democrats presented an all-male ticket. Make no mistake... Senator Obama is NOT the candidate for reform. He is NOT the candidate for mainstream, intelligent, moderate voters.

With Christmas just 5 days away, I am at home with the flu. Fortunately, I seem to have been through the worst of it and should be somewhat back to normal by the weekend. Here in the Seattle area we have had rain, rain, rain. Just today, however, a blue sky opened up. In the midst of it all, the candidates have prepared their own "holiday messages" to share with America.Enjoy.

I phoned the Washington offices of two U.S. Representatives, Republican, from the state of Washington (my state). I urge you to do the same in your own state. Staff are very courteous, and I had a very promising conversation with the aide to Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers. Others of you in Washington can call her office at 202-225-2006. Don't be shy!

The other individual I called was Congressman Doc Hastings, 202-225-5816

Our representatives appreciate hearing from us since they do represent "us"!

Anyone who knows me understands that I am not a "yes-man (woman)". I have been voting in Presidential elections since 1984 when Ronald Reagan was running under the slogan "Four more years". (I was too young to vote before that.) It was also the year I graduated high school and my parents determinedly made the necessary sacrifices to see that I finished college. 

The Democrat debate sponsored by the Des Moines Register in Iowa was not much more inspiring than the Republican debate. With fewer candidates, we got to hear from each of them more often, and the debate itself was managed better the second time around.

You can watch the entire debate here, but I really don't recommend it unless you have insomnia.

I just spent several hours listening to and watching the Des Moines Register GOP debate. Debates are important for a couple of reasons. First, you really see first-hand how a candidate handles him- or herself in front of a camera. Second, candidates sometimes will reveal something meaningful about his or her agenda. Third, we get a look at how much pandering a candidate is willing to do.

Before talking about any other candidates for President of the United States, I want to outline the views and priorities of Mary R. (myself) for President:

1) Federal government and education --
** edited ** Remove all federal regulations and programs and replace with the following: ** end edited content **
a) give each state a specific dollar amount per school age child in the state; money must be used toward teacher salaries (dollar amount can be based on an average cost of living in the state)

Second in the Presidential candidate search is Senator Hillary R. Clinton. While serving as a U.S. Senator, we have not only her own statements to look at, but we also have her voting record. Despite the close connection between the senator and former President Bill Clinton, I am going to reserve judgment after laying it all out here.

This post begins an analysis of the candidates for President of the United States,
representing both major political parties. I will limit my comments to Republican and Democrat candidates because it is my belief that these are the only individuals who have any hope of winning a national election. Other candidates may look good on paper, but they have no hope of winning. Their impact on the political landscape is marginal at best.