The Top 3 Democrats are Insincere

4 Responses to “The Top 3 Democrats are Insincere”

1. Ian Magruder on January 22nd, 2008 1:02 am
   

   This entire video is riddled with fallacies and ignorant comments. To be honest, it makes Think Youth look bad and I would suggest removing it from this website to avoid embarrassment and loss of credibility.

   The video begins by describing John Edwards as “just another white guy.” What is that supposed to mean? Does the fact that he’s white have any impact on what kind of president would be? If you’re trying to make a point about a person’s character, please refrain from racist and sexist remarks.

   You then say of Edwards: “I’m sure he has taken bribes… I’m sure of it.” Can you cite a single example of this?

   Next you say “and when he took his time off when he lost with John Kerry in 2004… um… you know… he became a lawyer again.” Are you trying to imply that lawyers are bad people? Mahatma Ghandi and many of the world’s greatest leader have been lawyers. Your logic makes absolutely no sense.

   “And then you have Barack Obama, who didn’t really vote when he was in the Illinois State Legislature.” Another completely false statement. Obama actually made over 4,000 votes during his time in the legislature and only voted not present 129 times (which means about 97% of his votes were straight aye or nay). As Obama has explained, most of the not present votes were on bills that contained some good parts and some bad. Although you don’t seem to acknowledge it, in the real world not everything is black and white and often legislators have to make though votes (for example, on bills that contain investment in alternative energy, while also giving big contracts to oil companies).

   You then go on to say “we know he’s black, although on affirmative action he kind of shies away to say where he stands on it.” Once again, completely untrue. He supports it:
   ———————————————
   * Indicate the principles you support concerning affirmative action. Should state government agencies take race and sex into account in the following sectors? Q: College and university admissions? A: Yes
   * Q: Public employment A: Yes
   * Q: State contracting? A: Yes.

   Source: 1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998
   ———————————————-

   You then say “on a lot of African American issues Barack Obama is not there.” Well, let’s just take the issue of civil rights why don’t we (note: he also has detailed plans on poverty and other issues important to the black community), which you falsely claim he “shies away from.” Obama has detailed plans to: strengthen civil rights enforcement, combat employment discrimination, expand hate crimes statutes, end deceptive voting practices, end racial profiling, reduce crime crime recidivism by providing ex-offender support, eliminate sentencing disparities, and expand use of drug courts. All of these policy proposals can be viewed in complete detail on the Obama website here:
   http://www.barackobama.com/issues/civilrights/

   At least all of your points on Hillary Clinton are correct, although she’s not quite as evil as you make her out to be.

   In conclusion, as a Democrat, I agree with your overall message that the leading Democratic candidates could be taking stronger stances on certain issues. But seriously, please do your research before you make unfounded attacks on the candidates. You’re just make yourself and this website look bad.

   [Reply]
2. Theo van der Deer on January 22nd, 2008 1:36 am
   

   The Democratic party doesn’t need another white man in a suit. It’s not racist to say this. It’s true.

   “Edwards has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital gains from stock in Apple (AAPL, news, msgs), BP PLC (BP, news, msgs), Burlington Resources, Medtronic (MDT, news, msgs) and Schlumberger (SLB, news, msgs), the chief rival to Halliburton (HAL, news, msgs), where Vice President Dick Cheney was once CEO.”

   Populism and hedge funds don’t mix. That’s what we call a conflict of interest.

   Lawyers are profiteers off of the working poor. That’s what the majority of them are. Some are decent human beings, the majority of them aren’t.

   You make it too easy for Senator Obama escape his sidestepping of the major issues. He had the highest “present” votes in the state legislature.

   Obama would hate to be coined as the “black candidate” that’s why he is really not very strong on civil rights. Sure you can find it buried on his website. However, he doesn’t take the issue in the front of his campaign.

   I don’t know who you are. I have never heard of you. But, I have been a member of this website longer than you. I was here from the beginning. I would never ask for the removal of your blog posts, or any of my fellow bloggers for that matter. I am not a baby. Your defense of the celebrity Democrats like Obama and Edwards is useless, do you think the GOP will go easy on them when they are chosen as the nominee? It is best to make the hypocrisies and ironies clear now, rather than a year from now, when Romney is sworn in.

   [Reply]
3. Jeffrey Pritchard on January 22nd, 2008 5:43 pm
   

   How does theo make the site look bad?

   [Reply]
4. Ian on January 24th, 2008 12:53 am
   

   Jeffery,
   You’re right, Theo doesn’t make the site look bad. But this particular video does by making over generalizations and critiquing the candidates using personal attacks rather than substantive reasoning.

   Theo,
   Thanks for explaining the logic behind your comments. In terms of the hedge funds, I think that making smart financial investments isn’t necessarily a bad thing. From my perspective, the fact that Edwards is filthy rich and still advocating on behalf of the poor actually gives him more credibility, not less. If money was all he cared about he could easily retire and live the rest of his life comfortably in his mansion. Instead he’s putting himself and his family through the grueling process of a presidential campaign. That’s just my perspective, but I can also see where you’re coming from on this.

   With regards to lawyers I respectfully disagree. You use the term “lawyers” as if they are all the same, which is very shortsighted. Of course there are plenty of corporate lawyers who are only in it for money, but I seriously doubt those are the ones contributing to the Edwards campaign. Civil rights lawyers fought to end segregation in the south with historic cases like Brown vs. Board of Education. Environmental lawyers, like those working for the National Resource Defense Council, fought to establish laws like the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts and hold corporations accountable for violating them. ACLU lawyers have represented people whose civil liberties have been infringed. Trail lawyers, like Edwards, have represented families across America who have been struck by medical malpractice. And these “good lawyers” continue play a vital role in society by fighting for the underrepresented in courtrooms across the country.

   In regards to Obama not wanting to be coined the “black candidate,” that may have been the case in the past but I think he’s not too worried about that after winning in Iowa, one of the whitest states in the country. In fact, I think he’s now openly vying for the African American vote (case in point, his long speech at MLK’s church this week). You’re right, he is not making civil rights a centerpiece of his campaign, but that doesn’t mean he’s not just as strong on the issue as any other candidate from either party.

   Finally, no, I don’t think that Republicans will go easy on the Democrats during the general election, but all the Republicans have far worse hypocrisies on their records.

   [Reply]

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