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here's an interesting article by a democrat.
Zell Miller is a Democratic Senator from the state of Georgia. This
was published in the Wall Street Journal on Nov 3, 2003, and is
must reading for anyone who intends to cast any vote in any primary or general
election in 2004. From the Wall Street Journal
November 3, 2003
George
Bush vs. the Naive Nine
By ZELL
MILLER
If I live and breathe, and if -- as Hank Williams used to say -- the creek
don't rise, in 2004 this Democrat will do something I didn't do in 2000, I will
vote for George W. Bush for president.
I have come to believe that George Bush is the right man in the right
place at the right time. And that's a pretty big mouthful coming from a
lifelong Democrat who first voted for Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and has voted for
every Democratic presidential candidate the 12 cycles since then. My political
history to the contrary, this was the easiest decision I think I've ever made
in deciding who to support. For I believe the next five years will determine
the kind of world my four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren will live
in. I simply cannot entrust that crucial decision to any one of the current
group of Democratic presidential candidates.
Why George Bush? First, the personal; then, the political.
I first got to know George Bush when we served as governors together,
and I just plain like the man, a man who feeds his dogs first thing every
morning, has Larry Gatlin sing in the White House, and knows what is meant by
the term "hitting behind the runner."
I am moved by the reverence and tenderness he shows the first lady and
the unabashed love he has for his parents and his daughters.
I admire this man of faith who has lived that line in that old hymn,
"Amazing Grace," "Was blind, but now I see." I like the
fact that he's the same on Saturday night as he is on Sunday morning. And I
like a man who shows respect for others by starting meetings on time.
That's the personal. Now, the political.
This is a president who understands the price of freedom. He
understands that leaders throughout history often have had to choose between
good and evil, tyranny and freedom. And the choice they make can reverberate
for generations to come. This is a president who has some Churchill in him and
who does not flinch when the going gets tough. This is a president who can make
a decision and does not suffer from "paralysis analysis." This is a
president who can look America in the eye and say on Iraq,
"We're not leaving." And you know he means it.
This is also a president who understands that tax cuts are not just
something that all taxpayers deserve, but also the best way to curb government spending.
It is the best kind of tax reform. If the money never reaches the table,
Congress can't gobble it up.
I have just described George W. Bush.
Believe me, I looked hard at the other choices. And what I saw was that
the Democratic candidates who want to be president in the worst way are running
for office in the worst way. Look closely, there's not much difference among
them. I can't say there's "not a dime's worth of difference" because
there's actually billions of dollars' worth of difference among them. Some want
to raise our taxes a trillion, while the others want to raise our taxes by
several hundred billion. But, make no mistake, they all want to raise our
taxes. They also, to varying degrees, want us to quit and get out of Iraq.
They don't want us to stay the course in this fight between tyranny and
freedom. This is our best chance to change the course of history in the Middle
East. So I cannot vote for a candidate who wants us to cut and run with our
shirttails at half-mast.
I find it hard to believe, but these naive nine have managed to combine
the worst feature of the McGovern campaign -- the president is a liar and we
must have peace at any cost -- with the worst feature of the Mondale campaign
-- watch your wallet, we're going to raise your taxes. George McGovern carried
one state in 1972. Walter Mondale carried one state in 1984. Not exactly role
models when it comes to how to get elected or, for that matter, how to run a
country.
So, as I have said, my choice for president was an easy decision. And
my own party's candidates made it even easier.
Mr. Miller is a
Democratic senator from Georgia and the author of "A National Party No
More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," published last month by
Stroud & Hall.
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