from A Letter on the Candidates

The next national election won't be until November of 2008, but already, it's impossible to get away for a brief respite from people talking about who will run, who might run, who could win. who should win but won't, who shouldn't run but will, and on and on, all about a contest almost two years away. You know that in my opinion, the party that's not as bad, are the Democrats. The candidates that they have are a very interesting, very diverse group, without a doubt the most diverse field that there's ever been. There's Hillary Clinton, the wife of our former President Bill Clinton, who's our greatest living President. Barack Obama, a first term senator from Illinois who's father was from Kenya, who has many people excited in the media. Bill Richardson is the Governor of my little state, New Mexico, who is Hispanic, and probably the most qualified out of any of the possible choices. There's also John Edwards(former Senator), John Kerry(Senator who lost to Bush in 2004), Tom Vilsack(Governor of Iowa), Dennis Kucinich, and other contenders. Usually every presidential candidate is a white male, but already the Democrats have a woman, a Hispanic, and a black running, along with the usual ones. This is unprecedented, and very surprising. The Republicans on the other hand are stuck with the usual tired, old, white guys.
People can't stop talking about Barack Obama, but I think that it's not because they like him as a possible president, but they enjoy the novelty of a black guy who actually stands a chance of winning. I personally like Obama, I think he'd bring a fresh start to the political arena, but I don't know if he has the right qualifications, the necessary amount of experience. He's only been a Senator for two years. I also don't know if there's much more to him than a good looking, charismatic smile.
Hillary has got a huge political machine backing her up, and she has the benefits of her husband being a former president. Other than that, she's not a very remarkable person. Many people dislike her, and won't vote for her no matter what, so I don't think she has much of a chance. She's much too divisive, and this country doesn't need another divisive figure after enduring the horrors of Dubya.
Bill Richardson is the most qualified, with the most experience. He's competently governed this state for the past few years, he hasn't caused any type of large scale catastrophe. He has continued to meet with North Korean officials because he was the Secretary of Energy during the Clinton administration. North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons, and that situation is probably the most dangerous one today. When dealing with the diplomatic chess game, he is the go to guy. Recently, he helped negotiate a ceasefire in the Sudan-Darfur war going on, after he met with the President of Sudan on his visit to that country. He doesn't have much of a chance because he doesn't have the name recognition, or the media behind him, but I do think that he may be the best option for the President.
It would be hard to find someone who would actually do worse than George Bush, so I think that anybody will probably be an improvement. over him.
There was an interesting thing that I saw. If Hillary Clinton becomes President and she gets reelected, which is a possibility, a member of the Clinton or Bush family would've been running the USA for 28 years (if you want to count the Vice Presidency, the number's 36). Such a streak is something that worries me. It is too reminiscent of an aristocracy, people inheriting their leaderships. It ought be shaken up a bit.