<![CDATA[Mainstream]]> <![CDATA[Mainstream]]> /Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_hrj2bfmqyaw3vojl4bnvnxfa_83f1ee8e-e73e-4eb3-b32d-b0be16807a5e_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 19 May 2013 11:43:29 GMT 15 <![CDATA[The Race is On!: Democrats line up for upcoming election]]> By Jeremy Arias


Rev. Al Sharpton

The party is nonetheless every bit a contender for the presidency as ever. Handed a powerful defeat at the hands the Republican Party’s storming of the House and Senate elections last year, the liberal arm in the United States seemed well on its way to a major defeat in the presidential race as the Republicans gained a near 60% approval rating during Bush’s presidency. However, several large mistakes and diplomatic problems facing the administration concerning the war in Iraq and labor and health care stances taken by Bush and other conservatives in the U.S., have weakened the party’s strength. This has left a somewhat disjointed and shaky Democratic party with a good chance of taking the office in the coming election. The nine Democratic Party candidates now running for the chance to take on President Bush include: Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, General Wesley Clark (Ret.), Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Senator John Edwards, Congressman Dick Gephardt, Senator John Kerry, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Senator Joe Lieberman and Reverend Al Sharpton. Chicago native Carol Moseley Braun, the only female candidate, supports affirmative action for both minorities and women. Retired General Wesley Clark takes a strong stance on the importance of getting Americans jobs; he plans a $100 billion job campaign over the next two years. As a retired military General, Clark also has a big plan for national security. Governor Howard Dean, perhaps the best prepared candidate the Democrats will have this year, is running under a strong worker’s union rights campaign and a staunch anti-war platform. Dean is looking to win over a powerful liberal-working class base. Senator Joe Lieberman, set to challenge Dean as the number one candidate, has a well-prepared platform based on economic equality; he puts forth a common-man approach and rallies for the reversal of Bush’s 2% tax cut for the rich with a tax plan that would cut taxes for the remaining 98% of Americans who are not billionaire executives. Joining Dean and Lieberman at the top of the ticket is Senator John Kerry with a support for union’s rights and a new economic system. Congressman Dick Gephardt is strongly advocating the importance of the weapons-ban issue in American society. Gephardt, joining almost every other Democrat who wears the badge, has attacked Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and instead advocates a program to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to just as many hard-working American families. Finally, among the main candidates is news and media favorite Rev. Al Sharpton. Subject of so much of the current political hype over the past few months, this charismatic yet somewhat out of place religious leader is in fact still in the race. Advocating human rights and voting registration campaigns, the hopeful Sharpton also puts forth a platform of abstract equal rights issues, of which the parameters are a bit unclear. For more information on these or the other Democratic candidates who were not covered in this piece or for further study and careful examination of the candidate’s individual biographies and standings on big issues, please visit the website: http://www.democrats.org/whitehouse/ ]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2003 05:00:00 GMT