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Contrary to popular (and electoral) belief, Republicans and Democrats aren't very different. Look at the specific issues concerning
the upcoming presidential election and the differences, or lack thereof, between the two battling parties. The first obvious
issue is the Iraq war. Senator Kerry is very critical of the previous actions of President Bush, yet lacks a brilliant scheme
to get American troops out of the present quagmire. He in fact, echoes George Bush's sentiments in proclaiming that America
must stay the course in Iraq. However, he says that he can drum up business for a global coalition, claiming that, with him
in the Oval Office, France and Germany will become pro-American. I've got news for him, though: If you put lipstick on a pig,
it still looks like a pig. It still smells like a pig. It still acts like a pig. The drama of a Kerry presidency would not
be in his attempts to create a global coalition, but in his reaction after he fails to do so. On the economy, John Kerry says
that America is in a horrendous economy, yet he has no ideas to fix it except to raise taxes. That's not a new concept; many
politicians (see: FDR) have believed that the government knows how to spend the people's money better than individuals do.
That sounds an awful lot like communism, but that's a completely different subject. In fact, Kerry is absolutely incorrect.
We are in a fabulous economy. Unemployment is falling, consumer confidence is skyrocketing, and productivity, the leading
indicator of standard of living, is at unbelievable highs. All these, plus reasonable inflation, point to a robust economy,
yet Kerry is acting like the cavalry, proclaiming "Help is on the way" as if things that aren't broke need fixing.
On domestic affairs, no longer do we have a large gap in ideology as in the 20th century. The issue used to be if welfare
should even exist, but now it is how we should go about implementing welfare, which is not a very large difference. The obvious
places that Kerry could attack currently are not being exploited, such as human rights. Bush is the driving force (other than
John Ashcroft) behind the Patriot Act, labeled by many (including me) as the greatest single infringement on American rights
since the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1794. Their current argument, that America can't handle another 4 years of George W.
Bush, is invalid. This is the man who once held an unprecedented 90% approval rating. Also, you can't argue that America can't
survive another four years of George W. Bush when your party has no major differences in policy planned. In fact, things have
been set in motion on September 11, 2001 that cannot be altered or stopped by any man, administration, party, or government.
Kerry, therefore, has little choice but to continue Bush's current policies, especially in the war on terror.
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