Not the Man for the Job

Sassan Sheikholeslami

Engl 105H

Position Arg

The President of The United States wields tremendous power. The President is the chief executive officer of the federal government, leader of the executive branch, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The person that holds this office must be extremely well qualified as our country’s well-being depends upon it. As the election looms upon the horizon it is worthwhile for us to examine the candidates in detail. This paper focuses on the Republican candidate George W. Bush and his ability to run our country effectively. This paper will evaluate his past leadership experience, his personal success and integrity, his intellectual abilities, and his stance on some policy issues of significance. An in depth look into all of these matters has led to the conclusion that George W. Bush would be a bad president.

Many of Bush’s supporters claim that he is a good fundraiser, which is true. He has raised over eighty two million dollars thus far. This kind of gargantuan fundraising is no easy feat, even for a candidate backed by big business. It is a shame that his wizardly fundraising skills don’t carry over into his economic leadership.

Many Bush proponents say that he was successful in his business transactions, so he would be good at guiding our country’s economy. This view is wrong for two reasons, first being a successful entrepreneur and running a country are very different. One involves recognizing opportunity and good negotiation skills, while the other involves understanding economies of scale and long term effects. Secondly, Bush wasn’t even a very good businessman; he made most of his fortune through shady deals like the one explained by Eric Alterman…

“Bush initially borrowed $600,000 from a bank where he had been a director, to cover his 1.8 percent interest in the team. At the behest of Bush and his fellow investors, state authorities created the Arlington Sports Facilities Development Authority, which was given the power to expropriate some private land to build the team a new stadium. When some of the homeowners and farmers refused to sell for the low prices being offered, the Authority condemned their land and expropriated it by force of law. It did this with 270 acres of land, even though only about 17 acres were needed for the ballpark. The rest was used for commercial development that made Bush and his friends rich.” (Alterman, 2000)

How can we trust a man who was willing to the allow the homes of dozens of his fellow citizens to be destroyed so that he could make a few million bucks? This lack of good judgment displayed by Bush is also apparent in his Governorship of Texas.

The only concrete information we know of Bush’s leadership skills are from his experience as Governor of Texas. During those years as Governor Bush,

“presided over a steady worsening of the environment and intervened to prevent the state from participating in the CHIP program for children without health care, simultaneously offering generous tax breaks to the wealthy and the oil and gas industry.” (Alterman, 2000)

We simply cannot vote for a man who doesn’t act to protect the interests of children in our society, for they are the future. Nor a man who takes large campaign contributions from oil and gas companies and grants them tax loopholes in return. Finally, the worst thing about Bush’s platform has got to be his outlook on environmental issues.

As previously quoted from Alterman, Bush led Texas to among the worst in then nation in regards to pollution. According the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,

“Global warming is a real problem, and it is with us and we are going to have to take this into account in our future planning, the latest assessment reinforces the mainstream scientific consensus about global warming. Its new estimates of warming poses a risk of devastating consequences within this century.” ( Hebert, 2000).

If the human race is going to thrive into the next century we shall need leaders who push for viable options now. Bush, on the other hand, “urges a cautious approach and believes the science still needs to be proven” (Hebert, 2000). Bush would most definitely continue to support the large oil companies who, besides adding large donations to his campaign coffers, are the single biggest cause of global warming. As one expert in climatology puts it,

“Key countries must start demonstrating real political leadership if we are to ensure that strong and effective action is launched to control greenhouse gas emissions,” he stated. “The longer we wait to make the transition to low-emissions economies, the greater the damage from climate change will be.” ( Hebert, 2000)

Another important part of a presidential candidate is his/her intellectual abilities. A president should be knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects in order to make sound judgments. Throughout the presidential debates Bush proved his incompetence by demonstrating lack of basic knowledge in subjects from affirmative action to his own proposed plan for the budgetary surplus. According to Michael Kingsley…

“But if George W. Bush isn't a moron, he is a man of impressive intellectual dishonesty and/or confusion. His utterances frequently make no sense in their own terms. His policy recommendations are often internally inconsistent and mutually contradictory.” (Kingsley, 2000)

Bush’s lack of knowledge is also accompanied by a lack of personal integrity. He has made numerous claims, in and out of the debates, that bend the facts to make him look good. In one case Bush bragged,

“I brought Republicans and Democrats together to do just that in the state of Texas to get a patients bill of rights” that included the right to sue the insurance companies that are supporting his candidacy, he was engaging in a deliberate deception on an issue of considerable import. In fact, Bush fought tooth-and-nail in 1995 against allowing Texans the right to sue their HMOs. When faced with a veto-proof majority two years later, he let it pass without the governor’s signature” (Alterman, 2000). I think we can agree that this kind of behavior is unacceptable for a person who would potentially hold the highest office in the land.

As voting citizens of this great country we have the power to shape our future. We must use our ballots wisely. The president we vote for must be honest, intelligent, and have a great amount of personal integrity. As the problems created by global warming are quickly coming upon us, our next President must be ready to take immediate action. George W. Bush is the antithesis of an ideal presidential candidate. I think we can agree that our country would have a horrendous start for the new century under his incompetent leadership. As almost all of the other major candidates would do a better job than Bush, I recommend researching Al Gore, John Hagelin, Ralph Nader, or any of the other candidates, and voting for the one that best emulates your views.

Works Cited

Alterman, Eric. “The Scandal No One Cares About”. Oct 16, 2000 <www.msnbc.com/news4777199.sap?0nm=V1CP.>

Hebert, Josef. “Climate Experts Raise the Stakes”. Oct 25, 2000 <www.msnbc.com/news/481170.asp?0nm=O128. >

Kingsley, Michael. “The Stupidity Issue”. The Washington Post. Oct 24, 2000 <www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64-2000Oct23?language=printer.>