by Raychelle
Being a voter in this climate isn't easy. Presidential candidates are trained in rhetoric, and they know what to say to get on our good side. Personally, I like someone who's straight up with me. But that's not how you become President in this society today.
What to do? I want a Green President, but not at the expense of other equally important issues for me such as health care (Michael Moore's Sicko!), Deaf community rights, taxes, marriage for same-sex couples, abortion, the war and education.
To save my time researching which presidential candidate is the best advocate for the environment, I go to the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) website (www.lcv.org). LCV is an organization that "advocates for sound environmental policies and pro-environmental candidates who have stated they will adopt and implement such policies. LCV is the independent political voice for the environment."
Since 1996, over 80% of their endorsed candidates have gone on to win their political positions.
LCV developed a voter's guide for 2008: LCV Voter Guide They base their evaluation of each candidate on their actual performance in Congress or in their state and their responses to LCV's presidential questionnaire, with some quotes from them on the environment. So far, LCV has not yet endorsed a Presidential Candidate.
The following Presidential Candidates never responded to LCV's questionnaire, and do not have a voting record (action speaks louder than words), however LCV summarizes their views on the environment in their guide for those of you want to read more about them.
R - Governor Mike Huckabee - N/A
R - Governor Mitt Romney - N/A
R- Mayor Rudy Giuliani - N/A
Here's the LCV Lifetime Score for each candidate, 0 for the worst, and 100 for the best. Asteriks indicate that they did not return LCV's Presidential Candidate Questionnaire. For those that filled out the questionnaire, you can read their answers at the LCV site.
R- Senator John McCain - 26
R - Representative Ron Paul - 30*
D- Senator John Edwards - 59
D - Governor Bill Richardson - 82
D- Senator Hillary Clinton - 90
D- Representative Dennis Kucinich - 92*
D- Senator Barack Obama - 96
For more information, go visit the League of Conservation Voters site! Their information was certainly helpful, at least for me.
my comment to my friend's blogs about posting his "down with the White Man" article at www.blackcore.com that i will repeat same comment here.
ReplyDelete"i understand adam’s perspective about try to be true to himself in the mirror of democratic candidates. but…he needs to stand back then look at the real big picture before he plays the cards right and wiser.
did you notice something go wrong when bush won second terms again by close numbers of the votes. keep in mind, people who used to be democratic then switched to the new one call green (independent) due to eco issue that it did republican a favor in mystery way!
how?, for example: did you notice there are some extra little % vote left over in green. try to image if green didn’t exist against both republican and democratic then where do you think green ghost will end up to vote for? of course, more favor will go to democratic because democratic does value green more than republican does. however green wants more strong eco pure which ended up to lose to republican anyway. it means more death of soldiers in war for oil. green thinks like adam does as they both see the small picture to be true to himself in mirror of democratic rather than play the card right and wiser. for me, i have to go for instinct to vote for either clinton or obama but not kucinich. kuninich has no vibe. oh, man it is hot to see positive vibe between clinton or obama. my method of thinking ask myself the question in first place? who in dfl is strong enough to beat mc cain in republican. NOT ask who in dfl is strong enough to beat whom in dfl? will black beat mc cain enough? will woman beat mc cain? who is hungry to vote for first history of either black or woman. that is hard question because i have consider black and woman equal. i need my dog to sniff the positive vibe around in usa before i take dog’s advice to vote.
i bet you that republican is smiling that green still exist in vote to drain the democratic’s vote down.
in case, i forget but belate happy new year to you!
buzz"
raychelle,
thank you for linking to league of conservation voters so i can figure out to weight my decision to vote for at the dfl caucus on super tuesday. right now my mind is difficult to weight and to balance on all eco, black and woman equally but hope to play my card right and wiser.
buzz
A wonderful source of information and something for us to lean on to help us decide who to vote!
ReplyDeleteI am relieved to know that Obama got the highest score. He is an extraordinary man with boundless vision. Hillary also got a high score and I think Obama and Hillary will make a great team.
Go green not only for ourselves but animals and environment!
this is a great blog - thank you for this :)
ReplyDelete