Thoughts on Huckabee, Obama, and Hillary

I hate to admit this but I haven't really started paying much attention to the Presidential Primaries until now. Today I got a good look at Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee and the suave Senator from Illinois--Barack Obama on CPAN's coverage of the day before the New Hampshire primaries.

What struck me about Huckabee was his use of Star Parker (someone I had honestly never heard of until today). Parker gave a heartfelt and passionate endorsement and introduction to the former Arkansas governor. Star is a conservative commentator and founder of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education, a non-profit organization. Press releases and articles also repeatedly mention the fact that she was a single mother who was on welfare for a time.

Anyway, Star is really excited about her pal Huckabee. Let's see what she's so psyched about:

Huckabee is evidently all about equal education for all of America's children and pointed to the fact that he can give Ms. Parker a hug and not be chastised by anyone for it. (He's alluding here to the fact that Ms. Parker is black and he is white.)......OK??....... Huckabee also let it be known that he is "pro-life." He believes that Roe v. Wade should be over-turned.

And here's a little something from Mr. Huckabee's Web site that tells me that even if I were persuaded to ever vote Republican, he wouldn't get my vote:

I support the $3 billion the Senate has voted for border security. This money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers. This money will turn "catch and release" into "catch and detain" of those entering illegally, and crack down on those who overstay their visas.

(This money could be spent on fixing our education system, universal healthcare, and/or creating more jobs!)

Now for Obama.

I already know a lot about Obama as I'm sure many of you do. I read Dreams from My Father and I've been excited to hear a lot more from this candidate. Here are just a few tidbits of his speech in New Hampshire last night:

- Obama said a lot of politicians and the press are mocking him for talking so much about "hope." He said, "My father left me when I was two. My mother raised me to have hope." (Well alright!)

- He expressed concern about Global Warming and admitted that dealing with the climate changes in the world would be costly, but he's planning to address the issue.
( I just saw Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth, so I understand now what all the fuss is about.)

- Obama said he wants to make sure that we don't have any homeless veterans on the streets. (I'm hoping this extends to the other homeless individuals and families who cling to the streets because they don't have homes.)

- "I've seen this country led into war because of fear and falsehood." (You said it B.) Here's Obama's plan (from his Web site) for the war if he wins:

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.

And finally, a lot of people have criticized Hillary Clinton for crying today when she talked about her hard fight in the race, her love for the country and its people. Can't a woman express herself with a little emotion sometimes? Man!

When I told my 5-year-old daughter that no woman has ever been president of the United States and that if she's elected, Hillary Clinton would be the first woman president, she said it's not fair that a woman hasn't been president. "We need some women to be president too!" she said.