by Shirley Norling

Created on: March 25, 2008

There is an exceptionally interesting crop of candidates running in the 2008 presidential election. Which way to vote can become a bit difficult.

We have a woman, as well as a black candidate, as forerunners in the democratic party. This has never happened before. Both of these individuals are very intelligent, and each has their own strong agendas.

I would like to see Hilary Clinton as our first woman president of the United States. On the other hand, I would like to live long enough to see our first black American president.

Ideally, I'd like to see them run as a pair, one as the president, and the other as the vice president. If they did, I think they would be a shoe-in for the win. I don't think this will happen, though. They are both very headstrong and neither wants to be the vice president. They both want the job of our next president of the United States. Only time will tell if this happens.

John McCain is no slouch either. He's a former prisoner of war, and has been in politics for many years. He's very well qualified to be the next president also, I feel.

When I was growing up, we were raised to believe you were either a democrat or a republican. There was no in between. Really, it was a lot easier that way, but our world has changed, and our views have changed too, over the years. Everything is no longer black and white, or democrat and republican.

Both parties have new ideas and the world has expanded, literally, over the years. Each party, although their views are different, need to figure out answers to the same major issues that are facing our nation. Whether it's the sagging economy, health care, or the war in Iraq,
Americans want answers. They want answers to these major issues whoever becomes our next leader of this great country.

Who has the best solutions? Who should get my vote? One candidate may have the best idea on one issue, while the other candidate may have a better answer for another issue. How do we get a compromise? This is want makes choosing our next leader so difficult.

I do know we have a very interesting mix of intelligent presidential hopefuls running in the 2008 campaign. I don't have an answer yet, as to who will get my vote. That still remains a million dollar question for me.

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