[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

You must stop at some point and ask yourself why half the electorate doesn't bother to vote. This is one of the reasons. Too much show; not enough substance. Believe it.

Working in a public library, I have an opportunity to discuss many topics with many people (you'd be amazed at the dialogues you can have just by asking someone, "What did you think of that book?"), and from my conversations and observations, the number one reason people don't vote is that they feel "one vote doesn't make a difference."
I hear this time and time again. If they feel that a candidate is a sure-thing to win (whether they're happy about that or unhappy about that), they feel it doesn't matter whether or not they vote.

Another thing I observe, is cynicism... "all politicians are crooks, who are out to screw the little guy."
So they just don't care to waste their time following the election process or learning about the various candidates.

So I think if more people could be given a sense of hope, and if their interest could be sparked, then we'd have a higher voter turn out.
And I totally believe that this is why Clinton was so highly regarded, and is STILL so highly regarded... he very charismatically gave people something to be optimistic about.
"Don't Stop" was the PERFECT song for Clinton, because it summed up his message in the catchiest way possible: Times have been rough, and many of us have had it tough, but don't stop thinking about the promise of a better tomorrow... and with me by your side, we're going to bring about that "better tomorrow." (Like how I came back around to the topic of this thread? *hehehe*)

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

I know a few. But I'll say it again, Paul Wellstone. If you know of any skeletons in his closet, please share. Otherwise, I would hope you would take that back.

I don't know too terribly much about Wellstone, beyond the fact that his untimely death was much lamented as a great loss, so I'm unable to point to any skeletons in his closet.
But I did find this article, which falls under the "no one is perfect in everyone's eyes" category.... The Seduction of Paul Wellstone... and discusses the view that he had backed down from a lot of his earliest campaign promises, and had become "just another career politician."

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

It offends my sense of fairness that Jimmy Carter gets hailed as some kind of human-rights hero when he is anything but. He started a lot of crap that we're still paying for, and will be paying for in years to come. And as we speak, he is pressuring the duly elected government of Venezuela so that the Bush-backed puppets take over the government and hand over the oil to the megacorporations. I'm not making this up, folks.

Name me a president in the last 30-40 years who hasn't done something that we're still paying for today.
Even the "good guys" aren't perfect and make less-than-noble decisions sometimes. But out of the past half-dozen or so Presidents, Carter still stands out as a good man.

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

I'm sure you were being funny, but Lindsey Buckingham is not even close to being my hero.

I'm sorry... calling Lindsey your hero was based on interpretive license gathered from reading your various compliments and defenses of him over the past few years. (See, I told you that would come back to haunt you!)