Next year, Massachusetts will be holding special elections to fill the US Senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy. I found that it was actually really hard to find a single source of news that listed all of the candidates... but leave it to the internet swarm to step up and fulfill my needs. Wikipedia has a really awesome list of candidates that you can check out. A short Google search for each candidate can expose their platform for your consideration. I took a look at all of them and settled on my winner.
The Democratic candidates are for the most part pushing hard to maintain Ted Kennedy's reputation of "winning at all costs." When I visited Mike Capuano's "Open Mike" event, he stressed his approval of passing Social Security and Medicare "without a single Republican vote." I feel as though people like this only serve to drive the wedge in deeper to further polarize the country which is absolutely not what we need at this time.
The Republicans are similarly polarized in the opposite direction. The leading candidate, Scott Brown, is still pushing his anti-gay rights agenda. Really? Come on, man - Massachusetts has lead the charge on gay rights - so much so that it sued the federal government about discrimination against homosexuals! How do you expect anyone to believe your commitment to bipartisan cooperation if you are so far out in right field over something this state feels so strongly about?
This leaves the independents (according to Wikipedia): William Coleman and Joe Kennedy. William Coleman is a "common man" from Worcester... so common in fact that he doesn't even have a campaign website. I can't find any information about his platform, his stance on issues, or even if he is still in the running. FAIL. After that monstrous blunder, my hopes weren't too high for Joe Kennedy (no relation to those Kennedy's). As you have no doubt determined, I believe that Joe Kennedy is a phenomenal candidate.
Joe is a Computer Scientist by training, but has more recently held managerial positions and has held seats on the board of directors for several companies. More importantly, his views are what some people would describe as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative." He is for same-sex relationships and cutting government spending. His view on health care reform is to make available to everyone Personal Medical Savings Accounts which are tax-free (those not able to save money into accounts would be able to claim all medical spending for tax write-offs) and to end government regulation which stifles free market (FYI: for the last 40 or so years, health care has NOT been a free market).
I've got my candidate for 2010... who are you voting for? Tell me who and why in the comments.
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If Jake says he's a good candidate, then he must be. And he's an Independent to boot. I'm sold.
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