April 4, 2007

"Enough About the Sizzle: Where's the Steak"

Washington, DC (PoliticalJones.com) -  Now that the first quarter of campaign fundraising is over, maybe we can move on down to the meat and potatoes of Election 2008. Raising enormous sums of money for political campaigns plainly is a constant operation in today's political environment. In fact, all the candidates worked tirelessly to raise substantial campaign funds to bolster their standing(s) as viable candidates during this first quarter fundraising cycle. Based on the amounts in the till, there either will be great enthusiasm over the amount of monies raised (e.g., $26 million raised by Senator Hillary Clinton, the $25 million raised by Senator Barack Obama, and the $23 million raised by Republican Mitt Romney) or the lowered expectations of candidates like former Republican NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani, who contends he entered the race in mid-stream and did not have enough time to raise the amount of cash that his competitors did.

Unfortunately, the money race only matters to the "inside the beltway" crowd. Washington insiders use these amounts as a way to create a pecking order early in this race, but all this talk about the enormous sums of campaign cash is not too important to the every day folks outside the beltway. I am pretty sure it is not a concern of the men and women fighting in Iraq, the families living without health insurance, victims of predatory lending, or the residents of the Gulf Coast region who are still trying to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

At this point, the candidates’ ability to explain a real plan for running our country is critical. The questions we must continue to ask these Presidential wannabes are: (1) why are you running; (2) what are your goals; (3) how do you plan to achieve these goals in four or eight years time; and (4) why should we trust and hire you for the job of President of the United States.

In 2008, the issues facing us as a Nation are too important not to be taken seriously. We must demand and expect answers to our questions or discard those who talk the talk but are incapable or unwilling to walk the walk. Anything less will be unacceptable to any thinking person.