The Anybody But Bush Camp

Again and again, the media keeps referring to a large base of people who supposedly care little who the ultimate Democratic presidential candidate is so long as the ultimate winner in Election '04 is "anybody but Bush."

My standards are a bit higher than that.

I need a person I feel I can trust with many of the issues that have been trampled upon by the current administration (privacy and civil rights, the economy, our standing in the global community, American credibility, education, and so much more).

I want the person to be a thinker, a reader, and someone who can change his mind if the evidence suggests that is the correct thing to do.

I desire someone who doesn't force feed us a steady diet of American flag, mom, apple pie, and Christianity presented like it was cotton candy for mass consumption. A president is supposed to lead the country, not lead me in prayer.

We need someone who is brave enough to stand up and tell the American public things we won't like to hear - that tax revenue has to increase to reduce the deficit, that we need to balance our fears of terrorism with common sense, that corporations need to pay their taxes just as we do.

"Anybody But Bush" implies it simply doesn't matter the qualities of the particular candidate so long as they can win over Mr. Bush. Of course, we don't know what tricks will be in store for the election itself (they've had four years to plan the next potential Florida debacle and we're forced into these electronic voting machines with no paper record). But we desperately need someone we can respect.