Friday Five on a Tuesday

Gacked from Elise:

1. It the election were tomorrow, who would you vote for?

This is actually still kind of up in the air, but I'm leaning towards John Kerry. I'm thinking about writing in Howard Dean or Hillary Clinton.

2. What are the main things that lead you to vote for a certain person?

If I vote for any of the above people, it's because they are Democrats who hold certain views as I do. It's very rare that I vote for an individual because I 'like' them. I prefer to vote on the issues and 90 percent of the time, that means I'm going with the Democrats, whether I think the candidate is a putz or not.

3. Where do you get your info on the candidates?

Television, newspapers, news magazines, Internet and conventions. I don't pay attention to political ads on television, by the way, regardless of party or candidate. I do not believe in attack ads, and I do not think they are productive or reflective of a candidate's values or what they will actually do in office. In fact, attack ads make me view the candidate making the allegations in dimmer light -- and yes, that applies to Democrats as well.*

4. Who was president when you were born?

Jimmy Carter

5. If you could choose anyone, dead or alive, to be president, who would it be?

Hmmm. I think I'd go with Hillary Clinton. Now, before you spit up your coffee all over your keyboard**, let me explain. She is a strong, capable and independent woman who has strong convictions as well. She has drive, intelligence, motivation and she's articulate. While there are parts of her personality that are probably a little rough around the edges, as a role model I find her refreshing. And since this is a meme -- aka a pipe dream -- I'll go ahead and advance the idea that for a country that claims to be progressive, it's been more than 200 years since the birth of the nation and we still haven't entertained the possibility of a serious female contender. And so yeah, Hillary Clinton. If other nations -- UK, India, Ireland, for example -- can do it, what's keeping America from doing the same?

*This also applies to the blog. While I make very clear my political preferences here, I will do my very best to keep the blog positive. I have no desire to impunge the name of any of the candidates; I think they do a pretty good job of that themselves.

** Not responsible, btw, for any damages to keyboards while reading this blog.