Choosing A President

You would think in this, the Information Age, becoming an informed voter would be a simple matter. We are finding, however, that one of the legacies of the Information Age is that having too much information can be just as limiting to our choices as have too little information. We are speaking now of the kind of information that is being spun out in vast quantities by the campaign organizations of George W. Bush and Albert Gore. This information “spin” is aptly named; it makes us dizzy.

What we have witnessed in these final days of an extremely close race for the Presidency is two candidates turning up the heat on each other by sharpening their personal attacks on their opponent and inflating beyond the bounds of decency their high estimation of themselves. This kind of information is, indeed, too much. How did insult and braggadocio come to occupy such an exalted place in our democratic system?

We have found very few people who actually believe that George W. Bush and Al Gore are the best candidates the two great political parties of this country could have come up with this year. Someone quipped that the close election would surely become a landslide if either one of the candidates promised to resign and turn over the reins of government to his running mate following his inauguration. Perhaps these two men were not the best candidates, but they always were the candidates with the most money in their war chests, so their nominations were assured. We can look forward to more election choices like these as long as campaign financing remains unreformed.

Carping about the candidates, however, does not absolve us of our duty to make a choice on November 7.  How each of us ultimately chooses will depend on those issues that are a priority for us: taxes, the economy, the environment, education, gun control, public safety, social security, foreign policy. Fortunately, the Information Age does provide some avenues for fairly assessing the candidates’ positions on all these issues. In addition to issues oriented coverage in newspapers and on television, the Internet offers an excellent resource for information on the candidates and their positions. We recommend the non-partisan Project Vote Smart, which can be found at www.Vote-Smart.org.

The issue that makes the difference for us this year is taxes and government spending, which affects everyone. The accumulation of a nearly $4.6 trillion in estimated federal budget surpluses over the next 10 years has put Washington, DC, in the mood to spend, after a decade of belt-tightening. Mr Bush is proposing the most prudent and responsible plan for using half of the projected surpluses for shoring up the social security system and paying down the national debt. The other half would be split between across-the-board tax cuts and budget priorities like education and strengthening the Medicare system. Unlike the targeted tax cuts proposed by Mr Gore, which smack of social engineering, the proposed Bush tax reductions will benefit everyone who pays taxes. We trust him more to steer us clear of the kind of government spending spree that drove up deficits and interest rates and dragged down the economy in the past. This issue overarches all others, and wins for Mr Bush our vote.