2008 Woodie Awards
Kerry More Than Just "Not Bush"
A Response to the Presidential Debates
Erica Green
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: Opinion
This presidential election will not only be the first in which many of us participate, but will probably also be one of the most crucial elections in our history. That being said, I have to express how incredibly distraught, and disheartened I have been about this upcoming election.
In a couple of weeks, I am going to have to choose between two candidates to whom I do not feel any particular attachment, except on an issue pertaining to the welfare of another country that undoubtedly has done nothing but cause discord.
Knowing this, I was extremely anxious while awaiting the first presidential debate, a time when I could sit and let these two men explain to me what they were going to do for the security of my family, my future, my country, and myself.
"The War in Iraq" and the issue of Homeland Security was the debate issue chosen by George Bush. One would think that he would have been prepared to tell us that for the last three years we have been engaged in a war whose casualties, which continue to weigh heavily on the American people, are for a just reason.
He should have been able to look into the camera and tell that to the families who lost loved ones on September 11 and in this war. He should have been able to say that to the American people with loved ones still in Iraq, to the American soldiers who no longer know why they are fighting, to the millions of American people who have lost their jobs, to the American people who have had substantial funding cut from programs that they need to fund this war.
The American people who live everyday in "terror," the American people who trusted their president to make the right decision needed to hear it. He should have been able to tell us that he has not deceived us and that he did this in the best interest of our safety and security, to tell us why this is still our war, not his.
Bush did not do this. As a person who does not support this president and his administration or this disillusioned war we are fighting, I actually was ready to give Bush the benefit of the doubt, and finally let him explain to me why he should be the person that I trust to lead us out of Iraq.
In a couple of weeks, I am going to have to choose between two candidates to whom I do not feel any particular attachment, except on an issue pertaining to the welfare of another country that undoubtedly has done nothing but cause discord.
Knowing this, I was extremely anxious while awaiting the first presidential debate, a time when I could sit and let these two men explain to me what they were going to do for the security of my family, my future, my country, and myself.
"The War in Iraq" and the issue of Homeland Security was the debate issue chosen by George Bush. One would think that he would have been prepared to tell us that for the last three years we have been engaged in a war whose casualties, which continue to weigh heavily on the American people, are for a just reason.
He should have been able to look into the camera and tell that to the families who lost loved ones on September 11 and in this war. He should have been able to say that to the American people with loved ones still in Iraq, to the American soldiers who no longer know why they are fighting, to the millions of American people who have lost their jobs, to the American people who have had substantial funding cut from programs that they need to fund this war.
The American people who live everyday in "terror," the American people who trusted their president to make the right decision needed to hear it. He should have been able to tell us that he has not deceived us and that he did this in the best interest of our safety and security, to tell us why this is still our war, not his.
Bush did not do this. As a person who does not support this president and his administration or this disillusioned war we are fighting, I actually was ready to give Bush the benefit of the doubt, and finally let him explain to me why he should be the person that I trust to lead us out of Iraq.
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