Final Report Card on the election of 2004

President Bush and the Republican National Committee have run many ads against Mr. Kerrys war record and against his testimony in Congress over 30 years ago. These ads supposedly tell about the Senator's character. Did we all not do things as a young man or woman that we would change if we could? These particular ads have no relevance in this vital campaign and Mr. Kerrys thinking today. President Bush has also labeled Mr. Kerry a "liberal". His ads go on to insinuate that that label is a 'bad' term. I looked up " liberal" in the dictionary and it states that the word means, "not narrow in opinion or judgement". Nowhere in the dictionary does it say anything bad about the term, "liberal". Where if we look up the term "conservative" in the dictionary, it means, "opposed to change".

President Bush and his party have also brought to the front Mr. Kerrys voting record in Congress. If you watched the debates you would have been overwhelmed with the numbers of votes and percentages by both sides. I am very good with numbers and I was confused. So the average American was lost in the numbers. These were the tactics used by both sides in the debates. Getting back to Mr. Kerrys voting record, the average American does not know how Congress works. Many bills are full of amendments and the members must vote on the entire bill and can not vote on pieces of the legislation, therefore bills are voted against simply because of the amendment. In other words voting against a particular bill might be a vote against an amendment not the bill itself. President Bushs statistics on Mr. Kerrys votes on legislation does not tell the whole story.

Mr. Kerry and the Democratic National Committee have run ads showing President Bush as running the country into debt and only helping the rich. The tax cuts that Mr. Kerry talks about often supposedly did not help the so-called, "middle class". Anytime taxes are cut that is a good thing. What is the, "middle class"? Mr. Kerry has no idea what middle class Americans are about or how they were affected by the tax cut. He is a millionaire and has always been wealthy. Mr. Kerrys ads go on to say that he has a health plan to give all Americans health insurance but does not say how he is going to pay for it. During the debates he did mention that he had a plan to pay for this insurance but no details were given. Mr. Kerry does not explain his votes in Congress, or why he voted against certain legislation. Mr. Kerrys ads have been more positive than the President's but are also filled with half-truths and outright lies.

Now it is time to turn our attention to the vice-presidents and their campaigns. The only question I have about Mr. Edwards is "Where have you been"? Mr. Edwards has been on the campaign trail but nowhere else. Is this man running for Vice President? On the other hand, our current vice-president has been out in public and giving the American people a message of fear. He has been spouting the message that 'if you elect Mr. Kerry, we will be attacked by terrorists.' I have heard in the past that leaders in the world have consulted soothsayers and fortunetellers, but I did not think in modern society that the second most powerful man in the United States resorted to such tactics. Mr. Cheneys message is one of fear and negativity and should be dismissed.

On one last note, my wife and I list ourselves as undecided in this race and we live in a so-called swing state, Pennsylvania. We sent e-mails to both campaigns asking why we should vote for their candidate. Mr. Kerrys campaign sent back an e-mail that was a standard campaign response. We sent back another e-mail and explained that this was unacceptable and wanted a better response. Yesterday, we had a local Kerry supporter stop at our house and explain Mr. Kerrys position on many topics that were important to our family. President Bushs campaign has yet to respond as of this writing.

Overall this campaign has been one of the worst in American politics and no messages have come across. The grade for these 4 men is an "F" and hopefully Americans will send a message that this is not acceptable.