I'll probably very rarely write about the 2004 Presidential Campaign, but I do want to set forth some thoughts.

Part of me is glad Dean didn't get the endorsement; he really wasn't becoming of a President ... but the more I see Kerry, the more I worry that he is turning into Dean.

Kerry (in my original views) served as a very reasonable alternative to Bush; he was well-mannered and could keep a lid on his emotions. But recent outbursts really aren't making him look too good for me.

I truly fear that many people will vote for Kerry just so they're against Bush. This is a dangerous tactic; you're basically voting for someone based on the opponent's shortcomings. If we just looked at Kerry as a candidate, I'm not sure too many people would support him. His main platform seems to be "anti-Bush" more than anything; he attacks and criticizes everything Bush does while very rarely producing anything of much value. Bush at least has the balls to move forward with his ever controversial plans.

You constantly hear of Kerry whining about the deteriorating economy under Bush, but what Kerry (and most Americans) don't realize is the bad economy was not Bush's fault. Unemployment is mostly cyclical (meaning that it happens in waves) and will rise and fall with the business cycle, which Presidents have _very_ little control over. A hot topic (of course) is the outsourcing of tech jobs in the United States, but there are a slew of studies that actually say that outsourcing is helping our economy and leading to job creation rather than job losses.

The Economist had a good editorial giving much more detailed information that basically said that the current unemployment is following a normal pattern, and the seemingly higher unemployment due to outsourcing is frictional in nature; that it's temporary while people try to find new jobs. This happened in the manufacturing industry when Japanese car companies started making inroads to the US.

The bombing in Spain, if it is indeed the work of al-Qaida, does provide more ammunition for Bush that international terrorism is a real threat ... and that his policies have indeed helped protect us. The Department of Homeland Security, although criticized quite often, might be doing its job quite well; we'll never know since its success cannot be readily measured by us.

I worry at nights that the anti-Bush sentiments will lead to an ineffective President and a degradation of our society; if society has 'degraded' under Bush, please bring on another 4 years of 'degradation;' I'm quite happy with the job that Bush has done and would gladly give him another 4 years.

If you don't like Bush, that's fine. But please ... please look carefully at Kerry's platform and character before giving your vote to him.

Update: Kerry at his finest