04/01: Trying to Get to the Substance of the Candidates?
Category: Politics
Posted by: an okie gardener
Most media coverage of the presidential nomination race could be on the Sports Page. The focus is on the "game" of politics.
If you are a reader who is more interested in the positions and professed beliefs of the candidates, you will need to work to find the information you need.
Farmer helped all of us recently with his work on Obama's foreign policy convictions, and I hope he'll use his political and scholarly skills to do similar work on other top candidates.
For now, here is a page from the Des Moines Register that should prove helpful, though certainly not exhaustive. (This page may take a while to load because of its video links.)
If you are a reader who is more interested in the positions and professed beliefs of the candidates, you will need to work to find the information you need.
Farmer helped all of us recently with his work on Obama's foreign policy convictions, and I hope he'll use his political and scholarly skills to do similar work on other top candidates.
For now, here is a page from the Des Moines Register that should prove helpful, though certainly not exhaustive. (This page may take a while to load because of its video links.)
A Waco Farmer wrote:
I hope this does not sound defensive--but let me speak to the question of "substance" briefly;
1. I have written some substantive posts concerning the candidates--but they mostly came a while back--usually when they entered the race. It is a long race, and some of them are fairly old.
2. There are a lot of candidates about whom I have not written substantively and have no intention of doing so. One: Chris Dodd (not a bad guy) is out. Others will be leaving soon. Once we get down to a manageable number, I hope to go for more depth.
3. Most of these candidates reflect similar values that correspond to their parties. The GOP candidates are mostly fairly traditional Republican fellows. The exceptions on particular policies we know very well. And I have not felt the need to talk a whole lot about how McCain voted against the tax cuts and soft on immigration. Certainly, folks know this. Either it is important to you or not. We know Rudy is pro-choice, pro same-sex marriage, squishy on gun rights, etc. We know that Mitt is more conservative now than a while ago. I have written on these things, of course. I have certainly written (and hope to write more) about the fissure in conservatism that Mike Huckabee's "evangelical" candidacy represents.
The Democrats are liberals. They don't vary a whole lot on domestic initiatives. My hunch is that HRC is the most realistic in terms of foreign policy compared to Barack Obama and John Edwards (and I base my hunch on her voting record, her campaign strategy, and the people with whom she surrounds herself).
Anyhow, in general, substance is good--and I hope to do more of it as we go along.