Gore Vs Bush
As I trudge though the rain to my tutorials, I realize that as a visiting student from America, there are many things I miss about the States: People magazine, Ruffles potato chips, non-smokers. But maybe what I'm missing out on the most is being a part of our presidential election, significant for me because it is the first I've ever voted in and pivotal for our country because of the issues at stake. The closest I'll come to joining in the election fervor is mailing in my absentee ballot and watching the results on newsweek.com at 5 am election night.
Being the President of The Young Democrats Club at my home university of Davidson College and growing up in the heart of politics of Washington, D.C., Iíve always been fascinated by politics. I can still remember my anger over the Republicans' defeat in Congress of the nuclear test ban treaty and could give a thesis on why I loathe Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms.
In America, we call this lean to the left being a yellow dog democrat, meaning I'd rather vote for a yellow dog than a republican. I've been known to get into passionate and loud debates over guns, abortion, and taxes, even with my boyfriend, a republican, unfortunately for him.
And nothing in politics seems clearer to me than who should win the presidential election on November 7. Vice President Al Gore supports all of my issues, including gun control, health care, abortion, campaign finance reform, protection of the environment, and gay rights.
Oxford students may not realise how crucial an election this is for America's future. The next President may select up to four Supreme Court justices who could overturn the majority on abortion or gay rights. Thus, while the country is only selecting one man, that one man could conceivably bring about the abolition of abortion or overturn other existing laws.
If Gore is elected, he vows to keep abortion legal, ban assault weapons and require some gun registration, make health care available for every child, and protect the environment with the same vigour he displayed during his terms in the Senate.
On the other hand, Bush's record promises the opposite of these outcomes, exemplified in his signing a bill as Governor to allow concealed weapons in churches, reluctance to push a hate laws crime bill in Texas following the racially motivated death of James Byrd in 1999, and the notoriety of governing a state with the worst air pollution in the country and one out of four children lacking health insurance.
Unfortunately, through the two debates, Bush has pulled ahead a little in the polls. CNN's Jeff Greenfield attributes this to the fact that "Bush may have surprised a lot of people who thought he was incapable of completing a sentence" (Newsweek, Oct 3). Bush's reputation for stupidity is well known throughout America. His foreign policy snafus involve mixing up Slovenia and Slovakia and his rhetoric errors include his statement, "Is our children learned?" Does America want to elect a man who could start a war by interchanging the names of the leaders of India and Pakistan?
While the race is still close, the outcome remains very uncertain and it may come down to a photo finish. As for me, I feel somewhat distant from the election. Forced to read the debate transcripts, I found myself in a similar position to those who listened to the radio during the Kennedy-Nixon debate and believed Nixon nailed it, while TV viewers favoured the rested and sun-tanned Kennedy. I missed all the sighing and eye-rolling that pundits believe brought down Gore during the debate, so I declared Gore the winner since he produced real numbers as opposed to Bush's vague generalisations.
Bush actually accused Gore of a desire to elect Supreme Court Justices "who will use their bench to subvert the legislature" (Newsweek Oct.3). That America ate up such a non-documented and vicious blanket statement concerns me. I much favoured Gore's attitude toward helping the poor, exemplified when he said, "We have achieved extraordinary prosperity, and in this election America has to make an important choice: will we use our prosperity to enrich not just the few, but all of our families" (Newsweek Oct. 3)?
To me the choice is as obvious as it was in the elections previous with Clinton. The difference in this election is that I actually get to vote. But what may make it bittersweet is that I have to do so from 3,000 miles away and the right candidate may not prevail. That said, you'll still find me hovered over my computer watching the results well into the night of November 7, trying to forget I'm an Oxford student and feel a part of American history.
26th Oct 2000