Will One of You Please Woo Me: A Not So in Depth Analysis of Why I’m Not Backing Any of the Candidates for the US Presidency Yet

By Maria Mills

The next Presidential election is a little over a year away, so it seems like it’s time to start paying attention to the list of candidates, perhaps getting behind one of them. But not a single one is wooing me. Is it wrong for me to want my candidate’s words to move me, to make me feel like there is hope or to even, as far fetched as this may be, make me proud of my government?

I decided to go to selectsmart.com, take their quiz and see just who I should be supporting for President. According to their obviously highly scientific polling mechanism, my Presidential favorite is Democratic candidate is Dennis Kucinich.

I first heard about Kucinich from my friend Steve. An Ohio native, Steve told me the story of how Kucinich’s run as mayor of Cleveland landed the city in economic turmoil after boldly refusing to give in to the economic politics of big energy, a move which years later brought praise from his constituents and scorn from those big corporations who attempted to hold the local political leaders hostage. Kucinich’s Top 10 issues from his official web-site include things like a universal healthcare system, withdrawal from NAFTA and the WTO and replacing them with fair-trade agreements, repealing the Patriot Act, a guarantee of quality education, and a dedication to clean energy and environmental renewal. What self-respecting progressive could not like this list?

I’m not sure why I can’t put my heart and soul behind Dennis Kucinich though. Perhaps it’s the fact that his beliefs are a little too in line with mine and I don’t feel like he has a genuine chance of becoming president. Right or wrong, I like my candidate to have a chance.

Number two on my list is another Democrat, Howard Dean. Governor Dean’s wife is quite impressive to me. Dr. Judith Steinburg promises to stay out of the political limelight both during and after the campaign, preferring to focus on her medical practice rather than play first lady. I like that. I like that she has her career and he has his. While I expect they chat about their respective days at the office over dinner each night, for the most part, they do their own thing. I can’t help it if hearing “First Lady” evokes images of lavish cocktail parties and White House redecorating on my dime. Dr. Steinburg’s comments on what type of first lady she will be make that notion disappear from my head.

Dean is getting high marks in the polls. I agree with Dean’s assessment that the ideal of the American community is under attack by the current administration. As I continue my web-search for a candidate to support, I learn that Dean says that his campaign is one to “unite and empower people everywhere. It is a call to every American, regardless of party, to join together in common purpose and for the common good to save and restore all that it means to be an American.” He says he will “unflinchingly defend” a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. He says he will promote and defend the rights of gays and lesbians. He says he will work to end racial profiling.

Perhaps I could consider backing Howard Dean if I could get past his delivery. He often comes off as angry and combative and, well, sometimes incoherent. Every time I watch or listen to him I end up walking away dazed and confused.
Third on my list is John Kerry, the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts. On civil rights, Kerry says, “We need to guarantee equal rights and civil rights and say that, here in America, workers have the right to organize -- women have the right to choose - and justice belongs to everyone regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation.”

One of John Kerry’s failures for me is his ambivalent stance on the war in Iraq. Kerry voted ‘yes’ on the resolution to invade Iraq and although he has since come out with criticism of the current administration’s plans and actions, this initial support of an action that is simply wrong on so many levels is a critical flaw.

OK, let’s move on to number four, listed simply as “The Green Party candidate.” Well, not knowing who the Green Party candidates are, or if they even have any yet, I went searching. I found a list of Green Party candidates and didn’t recognize a single name. I did some research on each of those listed as currently running, leaving out the list of “potential candidates” which included the more recognizable names of Winona LaDuke, Cynthia Ann McKinney and of course Ralph Nader. I didn’t find anyone who moved me. Sorry Greens.

Number five was Carol Moseley-Braun. Oh how I would love to put my heart and soul into backing a woman for President. Right or wrong, I would love to be able to embrace Moseley-Braun based solely on her gender. Is it too dreamy to think that filling the position of “the most powerful man in the world” with a woman would improve our government’s shortcomings? Perhaps, as I suppose gender does not make one immune to the challenges of staying pure to one’s values when living the political life. Bottom line, I’m not in total agreement with Moseley-Braun’s voting record and I simply can’t in good conscience support her.

The list goes on to include names like Hilary Clinton whom I can’t back even if she is running…is she running? That whole stand by your man act really turned me off. Of course the fact that the sex-life of our President was headline news for so long is disturbing to me in and of itself. I suppose that’s not Hilary’s fault.
“The Socialist Candidate” is listed. The fact that my scientifically selected ideal presidential candidate includes a registered socialist makes me rather giddy I must admit. The term “socialist” is so romantic, so dynamic, so revolutionary.
Further down the list it says, “Libertarian Candidate.” OK, now I’m really beginning to doubt the validity of this measurement tool. I have friends who are staunch libertarians and no offense to them but I just don’t see myself being wooed by a libertarian.

Number 27 on this list of 33 is good old George Dubya. That’s it! This program has a bug in it. Perhaps it’s the victim of an Internet virus. Dubya has had quite some time now to woo me and he has certainly failed. Early in the last campaign, when I was under the illusion that he’d never get far, I found his antics almost charming in that “bless his heart” kind of way. Today I’m so vehemently opposed to the majority of the actions of his administration that I’m not sure if I should run screaming to some uncharted Pacific island or stay and fight for change.

A former co-worker of mine once told me that I wasn’t a good liberal because I voted for Gore when I really didn’t fully agree with the idea of Al Gore as president. Additionally, I still hadn’t gotten over Tipper’s attempt to stifle free speech a few years back with the formation of the PMRC. Flawed as my reasoning may have been and may still be, I wanted to back a candidate with a chance.

I’m a little older and questionably wiser now and I’ve decided that in addition to my candidate having a chance of actually being elected, I want them to woo me. So far, none of those in the spotlight have done so. They still have time though, and I have hope that one of them will succeed. I’ll keep on tracking their progress. My weekend mornings will be spent sipping coffee on the couch with my husband as we watch the political observers comment on who said what during the week, interjecting comments of our own. I’ll keep on waiting all the way up to Election Day for someone to woo me.

Maria Mills is a mother, wife, student and frazzled member of middle management. Occasionally she finds time to escape and write.