Use John Eisenhower as a reason to vote Dem!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

It was sort of lost in the debate frenzy, but on Thursday, John Eisenhower, son of the late President, came out in favor of John Kerry. Some folks on this board have said that they have Republican friends who think they must vote their party because they are Republicans. I think Mr. Eisenhower has some points that may change their minds. This is from a Truthout article, which can be found at:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/093004U.shtml

The Presidential election to be held this coming Nov. 2 will be one of extraordinary importance to the future of our nation. The outcome will determine whether this country will continue on the same path it has followed for the last 3½ years or whether it will return to a set of core domestic and foreign policy values that have been at the heart of what has made this country great.

Now more than ever, we voters will have to make cool judgments, unencumbered by habits of the past. Experts tell us that we tend to vote as our parents did or as we "always have." We remained loyal to party labels. We cannot afford that luxury in the election of 2004. There are times when we must break with the past, and I believe this is one of them.

As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry.

The fact is that today’s "Republican" Party is one with which I am totally unfamiliar. To me, the word "Republican" has always been synonymous with the word "responsibility," which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Today’s whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion.

[Eric J in MN]

1. This link includes a photo,

in which he resembles his father Dwight:

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_09_29_president_eisenhower_son_endorse_kerry.asp

[Xenus Sister]

2. Kick. I loved Eisenhower's essay!

Everyone should read it.