Bush did a pretty good job and *almost* made the case for war with Iraq. He failed to mention the idea of going to Congress first *or* working *with* a coalition. (He said “lead a coalition”. Georgie, we’re not the only nation in the world that thinks Iraq is a problem. Let’s learn to play on a team.) He talked about the need for new energy sources that are cleaner. He avoided using the O-word though (oil) — he talked about liberating ourselves from foreign energy sources. Ummm… name one foreign energy source that we export in large amounts other than oil. He talked about environmental regulations, yet he has rolled back quite a few of them. (To fight this, go to the NPCA website, click on “Take Action” and then click on “Action Alerts”. Do it now.)
Gary Locke, the governor of Washington state, was the Democratic rebuttal (so to speak) and he won as far as selling me on the Dem’s plans. The tax cuts aren’t as deep as Bush proposed but they reach *everyone* and not just the ultra-wealthy. He actually talked about liberation from foreign oil (which is pretty much the only reason we care about *anything* in the Middle East) and he has a decent track record on the environment. I have a serious amount of respect for him because he’s done some good things in Washington, is a second generation Chinese-American, attended Yale on scholarship (i.e. not an entitled person), is an Eagle scout, is the governor of a wastern state (which means that he understood the angst of the West when Bush told us to quit whining and conserve energy during the power crisis), and is really where I am on a lot of issues. Pity that he isn’t running for President…