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<td width="343" valign="bottom"><p class="date"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="date" --><a href="../../../../../default.html">8/30/04•
Vol. 129, No. 4</a><!-- InstanceEndEditable --></p></td>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="6"><b>Candidates running out of time to
prove worth</b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><i>by-Ryan Smith</i></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While trying to grapple with a dead heat race for
the presidency, both candidates seem to have forgotten the importance of
campaigning their policies, focusing instead on saving face and catering
to already loyal voters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Allegations and accusations about who was or wasn’t
a war hero have dominated headlines and news broadcasts for months.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ambiguous comments about tax cuts, economic
development, environmental policy and the war in Iraq all serve little
more purpose than to whet the appetite of voters already entrenched on
one side of the party line or the other.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During a visit to Ohio, one of a handful of
important swing states in this November’s election, President Bush told
spectators, “In order to make sure jobs stay here in Ohio and America,
we’re going to make sure countries treat us the way we treat them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“When it comes to trade, our markets are open; they
need to open up their markets.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Interestingly, instead of questioning how Bush
plans to execute those proposals, everyone just accepted them at face
value.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Statements like these are rally cries and press
bait that provide little insight about how the candidate actually
intends to run the country.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It would appear that the candidates are afraid to
take a stance on numerous important issues, as it might result in some
voters shying away from the candidates’ campaigns.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, if a candidate were to take a firm,
detailed stance on at least some of the hot issues facing this country,
like its economy or immigration, then just maybe they would pick up
votes, not only from the swing states, but from swing voters all over
the country.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Swing voters who are unsure about which candidate
is best suited for the position, apathetic voters and even young new
voters—these people represent an untapped resource of support and might
just be the determining factor of the outcome in November.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What better time to address issues and to discuss
the candidates policies than at the party conventions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is no other event on the campaign trail that
spotlights the candidate on a national level better than the national
convention. All eyes and ears are waiting intently to hear what the
candidate and his party supporters have to say. Why waste that valuable
time congratulating themselves as being at the top of their game when
they could be convincing outsiders not yet solidly affiliated with one
party or the other to take a side based on a candidates ideologies?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, the Democratic National Convention
failed to take advantage of that opportunity last month as it came and
went with sparse television coverage and little to no upward movement in
the polls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If Bush and the Republican Party wish to take
command of the polls, the Republican National Convention, which kicks
off today, will be the place to set the tone of the next two months.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Bush adviser told The Washington Post, “If you
don’t assert the sovereignty and legitimacy of your administration from
the outset, you undermine your ability to achieve your goals later.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While the convention has typically been viewed as
ceremonial, it shouldn’t be just about highlighting key figures in the
party.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Both of the candidates need to stop preaching
traditional values (when they don’t tell you what they are) and they
need to start informing the country how they are going to make good on
the promises they have made to the constituency.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Come November, voters should be able to make a
sound, informed, knowledgeable vote for one of the candidates. If that
doesn’t happen, it is because the candidates have failed to properly
address the concerns of the country and regardless of the outcome of the
election, not one American will be a winner.</td>
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