Annie's Corner
Election Confusion
By Anne O. Stout 

Ah, another election year is here, and we are already being bombarded with ads and the usual mudslinging. Why is it the politicians must spend so much time trying to smear each other and less time telling the voters what they stand for?

 I mean take a look at what is going on now, in an attempt to discredit Bush; they are taking a closer look at the time he served in the National Guard. This is very confusing to me as he has been labeled a "war monger" and many want us to pull out of Iraq, so why are military records even coming into the conversation?  I mean a president does not have to have served in the military to be president. Look at Franklin D. Roosevelt who never served, and yet he was president during World War II. Does a military record necessarily guarantee a good president?
 John Kerry, the Democratic frontrunner for right now, is comparing himself to John F. Kennedy, and JFK did serve but still got the US involved in the Vietnam conflict. (By the way did you hear Kerry say Vietnam is "Nixon's war," needs some history lesson.)

 If a military record is what it takes to make a good president, why isn't Ulysses S. Grant known as one of our best presidents, he was a general in the Civil War. Doesn't that guarantee he should have been a good president?   The bottom line to all the points I am trying to make is the voters don't care about the military records; we care about the current issues so why don't the candidates address those, and stop the mudslinging. 

 Let's talk about the war in Iraq, the environment, taxes that are too high, education needing money for public schools, a freeze on colleges and universities that keep raising their tuition beyond belief. How about the homeless in this country? There are so many issues to be concerned about why are we talking who did what, way back when?

 At this point I am unsure whom I am going to vote for, but the way things are going I want a third or fourth choice. Now I hear Ralph Nader is throwing his hat in the ring, well he has every right to run of course; but a little late there, don't you think. 

 Saddens me all the political hype has turned off our young people from voting as they don't understand the decisions made by our leaders and don't trust them. How can I as the adult, who doesn't understand either, explain something that makes no sense?

 To the politicians I say, open your eyes and take a good look around and try addressing some of this country's real problems; not each other's records.