Checkout time
On Friday, the White House finally released a whopping list of 404 people who stayed overnight in the White House since Hillary Clinton's Senate race began. Basically, Mrs. Clinton has been rewarding big donors to her campaign with the opportunity to stay overnight at the executive mansion. In some cases, the stays amounted to several nights. Almost all of the guests were, in fact, big democrat donors. Among them are famous celebrities such as Meg Ryan, Danny DeVito, and Will Smith. Also, big party supporters such as Daniel S. Abraham, whom has given nearly a million dollars to the Democrats.
The very idea that the White House is being peddled off to contributors for vast amounts of money is in itself rather questionable. Yet, the Clintons have been quite reticent to release details about their visitors right up until now. Hillary, who is running in New York, most certainly shouldn't be using the White House, which is in Washington D.C., to bolster her campaign. One simply has nothing to do with the other, and yet she is making campaign money off of it. I suppose immorality runs thick in the Clintons. The White House is most certainly not meant to be rented out like a motel, and it shouldn't be. It's a shame there is no law prohibiting the mansion's exploitation.
It's an emergency! Oh, wait; no it isn't...
Gore has been asking the President to release the nation's emergency petroleum reserves, citing fuel shortages. On Friday he got his wish; the Energy Department announced that it was releasing 30 million barrels of petroleum from the reserve to be distributed. Now, it should be noted that the emergency petroleum reserve was created for -surprise- emergencies! Certainly, we are definitely not in an emergency right now. Oil is quite abundant; the only problem is that it is a bit more expensive than usual. The United States still maintains one of the lowest average prices for fuel in the world. Our prices are less than half of what they are in England, for example.
Gore is simply trying to seem like a 'helluva' nice guy right now, because anyone with half a brain cell would think that this action would lower the fuel prices. Of course, only people with half a brain cell would think that. The oil reserve is composed of 571 million barrels of crude. They are meant to supply the country in the event of a critical supply interruptions. In this case, Gore is using it to manipulate the market. If it does drive down prices, though, it will only be by a few meager cents, yet here is Gore trying to make himself look like Saint Al. By using our reserves, Clinton and Gore are merely putting our nation in a compromising position should there really be a petroleum shortage anytime soon. Leave the reserves for times of war or foreign boycott. The truth be told, such manipulative action is not the mark of a wise leader. The American people will not be fooled by this charade. It would be amusing to see what Gore would do in the event of a real emergency.
Lazio's Spiral of Doom
Lazio has joined Bush on the long and winding road to Hell. A week after his televised debate with Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Republican Senate candidate for New York has seen his vast lead over Clinton narrow down to a critical level. Whereas last week Lazio enjoyed a 48 to 36 point lead over Clinton, both candidates are now locked in a virtual tie for the Senate seat with 48 - 48.
Most voters found Lazio less likable than Hillary. Women found Lazio's debate to be far too aggressive. Some women even found Lazio's approach to the first lady as "menacing." Lazio, currently a representative for New York, found his unfavorability rating spike at 38 percent, just a few points away from Clinton's own 42 percent unfavorability rating. Voters were turned off mostly by Lazio's endless stream of direct attacks against the first lady instead of focusing on issues. It is quite clear that this type of campaigning is beginning to fade away. For many voters, it's Promises vs.Insults, and the New Yorkers seem to prefer the Promises, as much of a fallacy as they may be. More and more we see candidates focusing more on (false) promises and less on offensive attacks against the opposition.
Of course, for some people it is the mudslinging that makes politics fun. What's going on here? Which method do you prefer? Email the paper at technews@wpi.edu and send us your profound thoughts concerning the future of campaigning.