[RMadd]

assuming these are our 4 candidates.... I've got to go w/ either Repub on this one. McCain is fairly moderate, and Giuliani would be a sentimental favorite, since he was mayor of NY during 9/11. I'm not opposed to a woman in office, but I sure as hell don't want HRC to be the first. Yikes. I just might move to Canada. And Kerry, well... I just don't like the guy. He was bad enough a year ago that I voted for Bush over him. To be honest, I'm really not sure who else I'd like to see run for the Dems.

But I think that, in all honesty, the quality of candidates from both parties in the past 2 elections ('00 & '04) has been sub-par. I don't think the country is so politically divided: it's that there's 2 very similar candidates (white, wealthy, Christian, etc.) who may differ significantly on only a handful of issues that the parties and media have drummed up to be the things we, as Americans, should worry about. I would be all for voting for the guy who stands up and says "Fuck party politics! I'll do what I and you think is best for this country, regardless of what a monolithic party ideology says." Well, anyone but Ross Perot perhaps. Unfortunately, our electoral system isn't very conducive to this kind of thinking, speech, or activity. So we're stuck with the idea that there's only 2 lenses through which to view the entirety of the American political landscape. It's very frustrating.