Democratic Caucus
Boulder, CO
February 5, 2008
Vote Obama!
Vote Joan Fitz-Gerald!
Co-2 Representative
Represents Colorado District 2 in the House of Representatives. CD-2 includes Boulder, CO, Adams County, and Jefferson County.
Joan Fitz-Gerald
Endorsed Vote: Yes
Joan was the first female president of the Colorado State Senate. While she served in that capacity, the Republicans tried to push through a redistricting measure that would enable them to win every election for ever. Joan lead the fight against them, and won.
Joan has never said a word that I don't agree with, which is rare in a politican. She says that her priorities in Washington are:
1. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq. She will vote to cut off the funding and let the Generals figure out how to withdraw.
2. Universal Health Care. Unlike the presidential canidates, Joan is for the only system of health care that makes sense: the Single-Payer system, where all people pay into the same pool and are covered by that pool.
3. Address global warming through alternative energy. In the state senate, she made Colorado into one of the national leaders of renewable energy, and will do the same for America.
She is truly a savvy politican. She won't just sit there in Congress, she will fight for us.
Jared Polis
Endorsed Vote: No
Jared Polis was born into a rich family, and now is funding his own campaign to challenge Joan for the CD-2 seat. Although many of his policy positions are similar to Joan, it is my unofficial impression that he doesn't have the political experience to fight for those issues. Jared seems to have a knack for angering important constituents: recently he published an ad in which the soldiers at Iwo Jima were planting a flag with the Blackwater icon on it instead of an American flag. Understandably, the veterans got mad at him. In response, Jared accused them (and, by proxy, Joan) of homophobia. Which is absurd: most gay activists prefer Joan over Jared (even though Jared is gay himself) because of her work for gay rights and marrage in the state senate. This is but one example of the kind of personal politics that I feel is holding our country away from the issues.
Will Shafroth
Endorsed Vote: No
Will is not going through the caucus process: instead, he will petition to get on the ballot. Will is primarily a conservationist, and he strikes me as a well intentioned guy, but perhaps not a politician of the same caliber as Joan. Because he won't be in the caucus process, for this Tuesday you only have to decide between Jared and Joan.
President
Barack Obama
Endorsed Vote: Yes
Really inspires me. I like to hope that if he was our next president, the fall of the American Empire would be a dignified affair that brings peace and prosperity, instead of an ugly self-combusting War. I put all my hopes for America on Obama.
Hillary Clinton
Endorsed Vote: No
Not only did Hillary vote for the Iraq war, she was really in to it: she voted for it with relish, as it were. Then, six years later, when she ought to have known better, she was the only dem to vote for a resolution that called the Iranian Republican Guard "a terrorist organization." I think Hillary is a hawk and I am worried that she will pull us out of Iraq only to put us in a disaster in Iran.
Her health care plan is flawed, and promises financial ruin for the government. If there are two insurance pools: one private, the other public, then the private will seek to insure only healthy, young people, and all the older people who need more care will be in the public system. Over time, the for-profit system will prosper and make shareholders rich, and the public system will be bankrupt. Sadly, neither canidate advocates a single-payer system, which is the only sensible solution.
