2008 Woodie Awards
Plenty to look for in 2008
Joe Caporoso
Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Op/Ed
Despite the Presidential Election being nearly two years away, there has been a recent surge in media coverage on the topic. The reasons for this are the high profile and unique candidates from both parties, who promise to make this race one of the most historic elections in our recent memory. An early look at the main competitors for the job show politicians from a wide range of backgrounds, each with their own strong suits and of course, with their own downfalls.
As a liberal Democrat, I am surprisingly impressed with the two main candidates likely to battle for the Republican bid. John McCain is a hard man not to respect due to his well documented military service background and his desire to break party lines to vote for what he believes in. His concern for the environment, and his work with liberal senator Ted Kennedy on immigration acts have been at odds with the Bush administration. Also his work to limit torture against our prisoners of war has been highly publicized and been a refreshing voice of reason to come out of his political party.
Republican Rudy Giuliani, who in recent polls has been the most popular pick to run for the GOP. Everybody knows he can handle crisis well as exemplified by his actions on Sept. 11th. Beyond that, he is pro-choice, supports same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research, putting him at odds with the far-right wing members of his party.
On the Democrat's side the candidate who has grabbed the most recent headlines is Hillary Clinton, who is certainly no stranger to the White House. Clinton's economic policy focuses on cutting into our growing national debt, helping to balance the growing divide between rich and poor and working towards universal health care. On foreign policy, she has been a little inconsistent with her stance on the Iraq War, but many senators have as well. She is fairly liberal when it comes to domestic issues, but not radically liberal as she is sometimes stereotyped to be.
As a liberal Democrat, I am surprisingly impressed with the two main candidates likely to battle for the Republican bid. John McCain is a hard man not to respect due to his well documented military service background and his desire to break party lines to vote for what he believes in. His concern for the environment, and his work with liberal senator Ted Kennedy on immigration acts have been at odds with the Bush administration. Also his work to limit torture against our prisoners of war has been highly publicized and been a refreshing voice of reason to come out of his political party.
Republican Rudy Giuliani, who in recent polls has been the most popular pick to run for the GOP. Everybody knows he can handle crisis well as exemplified by his actions on Sept. 11th. Beyond that, he is pro-choice, supports same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research, putting him at odds with the far-right wing members of his party.
On the Democrat's side the candidate who has grabbed the most recent headlines is Hillary Clinton, who is certainly no stranger to the White House. Clinton's economic policy focuses on cutting into our growing national debt, helping to balance the growing divide between rich and poor and working towards universal health care. On foreign policy, she has been a little inconsistent with her stance on the Iraq War, but many senators have as well. She is fairly liberal when it comes to domestic issues, but not radically liberal as she is sometimes stereotyped to be.