This is an election year, and I highly recommend that you vote. Your vote really does matter, as we all learned in Election 2000, and the ability of blacks and women to vote has been a hard-won struggle. Your forbearers who risked life and limb for your right to vote would be very disappointed if you sat Election 2004 out, and so would I. If you are not registered, check out the Leon County Supervisor of Elections office. If you are registered, please consider your vote carefully. This is a very important decision, and it should not be made lightly.
Gov. Jeb Bush releases his budget proposal
Budgets are always political documents. But in election years, they are also election documents. Gov. Bush's budget proposal included spending $1.4 million on community colleges. That's a 7.6-percent increase, the biggest in almost 20 years. Some have argued that the state's 11 public universities, which generate important research, are getting a raw deal. But others defend the governor, saying that the vocational training students receive at community colleges is important to the future of Florida's economy. Whatever Bush's reasoning, he now must persuade the Legislature to adopt his ideas, and you can bet that members of the Legislature will have some ideas of their own. Look for the governor and the Legislature to squabble in the coming months about the best way to spend Florida's money. The Iowa caucus The Iowa caucus is the first big event of our modern presidential campaigns. Every four years, voters in Iowa get together and debate politics by making a public showing of their support for their candidate of choice. The results of the Iowa caucuses this year have changed the dynamic of the election, giving a come-from-behind victory to a previous frontrunner; a come-from-nowhere victory to a North Carolina senator and an embarrassing defeat to a previous frontrunner. Here are the results:
1. Johns Kerry, 23%
2. John Edwards, 32%
3. Howard Dean, 18%
Our class also held a caucus, in which John Kerry also won. The behavior of students during the class caucus illustrated some interesting trends, which are true of the American electorate:
· most people don't vote
· apathy is a difficult barrier to overcome
· when more people vote, Democrats tend to win
· when fewer people vote, Republicans tend to win
Let's take a look at the candidates in 2004:
George W. Bush
· from Texas
· graduate of Yale and Harvard
· former executive in the oil business
· former governor of Texas
· United States president since 2000
· campaign: Bush will emphasize his role in the war on terror, the development of the Department of Homeland Security, the ousting and capture of Saddam Hussein and tax cuts.
John Kerry
· from Massachusetts
· graduate of Yale
· military awards: Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts
· former prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
· former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
· United States senator since 1982
· campaign: Kerry's campaign will focus on his military experience. He plans to challenge Bush on the war in Iraq, homeland security and tax cuts for the wealthy.
John Edwards
· from North Carolina
· former trial lawyer
· United States senator since 1996
· campaign: Edwards wants to run a positive, optimistic campaign — free of negative attacks that dominate most campaigns. This will be a challenge because negative campaigns have been shown to be effective. His central campaign theme is that there are Two Americas, one for the rich and one for everybody else.
Howard Dean
· from Vermont
· graduate of Yale and Albert Einstein College of Medicine
· former physician
· former governor of Vermont
· campaign: Dean's campaign hopes to challenge Bush on the war in Iraq, which Dean opposed. He plans to distinguish himself from other candidates who voted for the war resolution in Congress — including Kerry and Edwards, both of whom voted for the war. He also plans to challenge Bush on the economy, highlighting his executive experience as governor with balancing budgets. (Bush has created massive deficits.) Dean's quick anger has become a hot topic, especially his WWF-style Iowa speech following the caucus.
Bush's 2004 State of the Union address
· announced a $23-million plan to encourage student drug testing in public schools
· announced a $300-million training program to help newly released prisoners find jobs
· announced his support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages if the courts struck down a law saying marriage should be between a man and woman
· urged Congress to address the rising costs of health care with tax-free savings accounts for medical expenses, tax credits to pay for insurance and ceilings on medical-malpractice damage awards.
· called on Congress to overhaul Social Security to allow workers to invest some of their payroll taxes in private retirement accounts.
