Texas Republican Says "Country Must Come Before Party"
Mitch Dworkin
October , 2004
The Republican Party as well as America needs a return to mainstream leadership. Country must come before party. We need a president who can admit to making mistakes and bad decisions, a president who can unite this country and restore credibility back to the White House and to our allies who are now alienated from this Administration, and a president who is fiscally responsible and is in touch with the economic burdens of middle class Americans. Enormous tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans who make over $200,000 per year in a time of war and when the middle class is suffering from job losses, increased costs in health care and education, and record high deficits is not exercising fiscal responsibility and is also clearly not compassionate or conservative. President Bush does not embody and practice true compassionate and conservative values as he claims. He and most of his administration represent an extreme faction of the Republican Party and are out of touch with the American people and our world allies who once respected us. A president who while in debate with agreed upon rules who will not directly answer the question that is put to him "President Bush, please give three instances when you think you made a bad decision, and what you did to correct it" and who in one incident interrupts the moderator of the presidential debate three times, changes the moderator's question, and then says on his own without permission from the moderator "You tell Tony Blair we're going alone..." does not have the temperament to lead the Republican Party or this great nation. That is especially true when our countrymen and women are shouldering 88.5% of the costs and casualties in Iraq due to this president's inability to work with the United Nations. The truth is non-partisan and the truth?according to a federal report released last week?is that economically we are worse-off than we were before President Bush took office with this president being the first president in 72 years to lose net jobs. The truth?according to the CIA?is that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq which was the basis of President Bush starting a unilateral and preemptive war without a sufficient coalition, an exit strategy, and a plan to win the peace. The truth is that President Bush ran in 2000 as a candidate who would be a uniter as opposed to a divider and this country has never been more partisan in the last 22 years according to John McCain and even VP Dick Cheney admitted to this division in his debate with John Edwards. There is a growing movement of Republicans called "Republicans for Kerry" who are moving away from President Bush and his extreme policies. It is a difficult and painful move for many Republicans who have never before considered voting for a Democrat, but they know that it will be even more painful if they have to endure another four years of the Bush Administration's out of the mainstream policies. The Republican Party and the country needs new leadership! Senator John Kerry is running a mainstream campaign of fiscal responsibility, he has demonstrated that he can work well with people and can unite people of differing opinions, and he can admit to making mistakes. Country must come before party. Republicans of conscience should vote for John Kerry on November 2 so that this country will once again be stronger at home and respected in the world.
