Why I am voting for john Kerry. I have decided to cast my vote for John Kerry for President and I am a volunteer in his campaign. I believe he has within him the possibilities of greatness. He is a hero. This is a man who unlike many of his peers, went to Vietnam and served with distinction under fire. He was inspirational to me and others who were against the war when he came back from Vietnam and spoke out vigorously against that war and harshly criticized American leadership. That side of it has been understressed. It cost him the undying enmity of many of his fellow veterans as evidenced by the Swift Boat Veterans controversy and their largely discredited accusations. From the beginning of the campaign, before he even had the nomination I thought this was a man uniquely suited to help the nation heal the divisions still left over from Vietnam.
There is more. It is, sadly, negative. George Bush has failed as President. He has launched a war that resulted in an ongoing insurgency costing the lives of hundreds of American soldiers and civilians and thousands of wounded. Now this is a war that I originally supported and war always brings casualties. But the unexpected and unprepared for insurgency has brought hundreds more deaths with no end in sight. Further, it looks as though American policy is failing. The debacle in Najaf where the revolt was quelled not by American firepower or diplomacy but by the foremost Shiite cleric is a policy disaster. Yes, we did not have to make a final assault on the holiest shrine, but it is a pyrrhic victory leaving Al Sadr, the cleric in revolt, in place and even possibly allowing him to particpate in politics. We spent American lives but did not achieve American goals.
George Bush has in the past couple of days admitted he miscalculated the strength of the insurgency. Everyone else has known about the mistakes from nearly the very beginning. This president who strutted about the deck of an aircraft carrier nearly two years ago saying "mission accomplished" has failed and needs to be fired.
The economy which, after three years of losing jobs, seemed to be growing and creating jobs has sputtered in the last two months. Even the jobs that were created were barely enough to employ the new workers coming into the workforce. The number of new jobs did little to help those who have lost out over the past 3-4 years, many of whom have given up trying.
While I don't know that John Kerry has all the answers, I know that George Bush does not. Just yesterday he admitted that he had miscalculated the extent of the insurgency in Iraq. This is a year after every one else. A year later we still don't have a plan for dealing with the insurgency successfully.
John Kerry will have quite a challenge on his hands with the economy and the war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism. Unlike George Bush who appears to have no plan at all, John Kerry has a plan for National security. It includes once more creating alliances with the major powers. It includes modernization of the military with a doubling of special forces so critical in this age of assymeric warfare. It also includes the most patriotic thing any American president could do, reducing and ending our dependence upon mideast oil.
You can find Kerry-Edwards plans on the various issues on www.johnkerry.com. George Bush has failed in foreign policy and on the economy. He deserves to be replaced. I have been critical of many aspects of the campaign, but I have no doubt about John Kerry himself. He is a proven courageous leader who has not been afraid to take controversial positions. I believe he is a leader capable of rising to the challenges of the 21st century.
Mel
8:55:56 PM 
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