Essay/Term paper: Presidential candidates: division and classification

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

Presidential Candidates: Division and Classification


You could be the next presidential candidate! Sound good? You must file
papers with the Federal Election Commission to run. You also have to pay the
nominal filing fee charged to candidates entering the New Hampshire primary.
That doesn¹t sound so difficult. Anyone who can accomplish these two tasks may
run for President. Usually, some unlikely people do. This year, the candidates
include people from Phil Gramm to Jack Mabardy(Who in the world might he be?).
Only a few people have a genuine chance of winning the coveted office, others
could win if the world knew them, and still others ( I am convinced) run for our
amusement.
Clinton, Powell, and Dole have a decent chance at the Presidency.
President Clinton remains the only democrat running. His experience and
prominence will aid him in the 96 election. He spouts many unique, interesting
ideas. For example, he realized, "We¹ll never get everybody¹s income up until we
educate everybody." Clinton is full of brilliant revelations like, "Racial
diversity is our great meal ticket to the future if we can figure out how to get
along and how to lift each other up." His bits of intellect might be useful if
he proposed solutions to the obvious problems he presents. Bob Dole, a
republican candidate, has already done some work on welfare reform. He recently
passed a bill which allows the state to create programs that will move people
from welfare to work. His reform plan will effectively lower welfare recipients
by requiring able-bodied people to work, single-teen parents to stay in school,
and limiting welfare to five years. Dole knows what he wants to accomplish and
has innovative ways of doing it. Powell has a large cult following and would be
a great candidate. His only problem: he hasn't decided to run yet.
Arlen Spector believes the government should be "limited, but not
uncaring or a do nothing government." His ideas sound good, but vague. Some of
his ideas seem slightly less indecisive. He says American women should be free
to make their own reproductive choices. Senator Phil Gramm also has a remote
chance at the office. He vows to balance the budget and cut government spending
and taxes. He is well known and says what people want to hear. He would be the
ideal president if he could carry out his ideas. Dick Lugar wants to eliminate
the IRS and improve the economy. He has a lot of amazing goals, but lacks
practicality.
And now we have : "the few, the proud, the obscure." Remember, anyone
can run for president. Irwin Schiff knows how to present a good image. He even
wrote a book about avoiding the inconvenience of paying federal taxes, I fought
the law and the law won. Well, I'm sure his policies on reducing the national
deficit would prove interesting. John Safran, a man old enough to remember World
War One and model T cars, would provide an interesting addition to the ballot.
He does have that experience thing going for him. I wonder if he, like Reagan,
looks at the books beside his bed and calls them trees. Tennie Rogers resides in
Tulsa, where she (Yes, we women have a representative!) bakes cookies for her
grandchildren and preaches good old republican values. Fellow women, don't
rejoice yet. We will have to wait a while longer for a female president.
Unfortunately, Tennie only received twenty votes in the New Hampshire primary.
Everyone running has their good and bad points. A lot of the candidates'
successes will depend upon them being known. The voters will have to choose
between three realistic choices: Clinton, Powell, and Dole. The three have shown
their intelligence and problem solving techniques. They have definite opinions
on the country's problems and how to solve them. The rest of the candidates will
have four more years to bake cookies or fight the IRS.