408 Candidates Running for President

Did you know that there are actually 408 people who have registered to enter the Presidential Race?

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/candidates.phtml#P154

Party	Principal Candidates		Other Candidates
	Count	Total Receipts	Count	Total Receipts
Major Parties
Democratic	11	$246,414,629	80	$32,937
Republican	12	$174,342,761	95	$326,087
Major Third Parties
Green			12	$8,316
Libertarian			16	$159,396
Reform			2	$400
Other Third Parties
American Independent			4
American			1
Constitution			3
Independent American			2
Peace And Freedom			2
Personal Choice			1
Prohibition Party			2
Socialist Party USA			13
Socialist Workers Party			1
United Citizens			1
Independents
Independent			88	$230,037
No Party Affiliation			18	$21,620
Unaffiliated			15
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
Not readily classifiable			28	$27,360
Write-in			1
Subtotal	23	$420,757,390	385	$806,153
Grand Total: 408 candidates, $421,563,543 total receipts

 According to “Green Papers” (see link above) all you have to do is come up with the cash in order to be a Presidential Candidate– as we learned from Colbert;  the cash isn’t enough… the Party has to accept you… although there are plenty of Independents on board here who, from what I understand only have to come up with the cash.

I’m not so naive as to believe that a Presidential race can be won without a lot (a Whole Lot) of money but isn’t it unfortunate that it’s the first requirement?  I wonder how much Abraham Lincoln spent on his campaign… Those train rides must have cost something… and, obviously he didn’t have the option of spending millions on TV ads.

So… what’s my point? Are any of the candidates true representatives of the population? (Edwards comes from a middle class background– do any of the other forerunners?) They must be privileged, well connected and well… loaded in order to pull this off.  How can we expect any of them to represent us– the average person– when they can’t relate to our very real concerns?

Maybe we should look at some of these other candidates– for instance who is  Jon Greenspon?

Jon Adam Greenspon of California
	• FEC id: P80004351. Total receipts: $400 • Declaration of Intent of Candidacy: Thursday 24 May 2007 • Campaign website: http://www.greenspon2008.com/ •Filed with the FEC as a Reform party candidate 24 May 2007. Refiled as an Independent circa 1 August 2007. Address: 25576 3rd; Barstow, California 92311

I’m not suggesting that this man (who I randomly pulled out of the list) is a viable candidate.  But, he is a real person from a middle class background as are many of the other 350 plus candidates the mainstream media has never mentioned. (I wonder what would happen if the 24 hour pseudo news channels started talking about these other candidates…)

It seems as though the parties– and their constituents are so divided– maybe we should take a look at these other people… there might be a real gem in the bunch that we could get excited about.

Richardson is out– the reports appear to be true but we’ll know for sure in the 3:00 hour

I doubted the reports were true but now I just don’t know… How could he drop out? I actually donated to his campaign– and, I’ve not contributed to a campaign in more that two decades!

Fox Noise Says Richardson is Dropping Out

Well… if Fox Noise says it– it must be unconfirmed, slanted to the far right and they’ll never admit they are wrong.

According to the Richardson Camp he’s gone to New Mexico to attend to the job he was elected to do. That doesn’t mean he quit– it just means he’s a responsible person!

Yet another example of how you can’t believe everything you hear…

Edwards: One Silver, One Bronze. Can he pull off a Gold?

Edwards is having a rough time but during his speech last night John Edwards pointed out that only 1% of the American people have spoken and there are 48 more states who haven’t had their say.

Edwards did come in 2nd in Iowa and 3rd in New Hampshire. Maybe there is hope still.  He speaks to the middle class and the middle class seems to be listening but, he makes Wall Street quake! Could someone who scares Wall Street really fix the economy?

I don’t know why he isn’t doing better in the Primaries. Heck! I don’t know why Richardson isn’t doing better. I am comforted, however, that the pundits, pollsters and experts were all way off last night in New Hampshire in predicting a wide margin Obama win.

South Carolina will be very interesting to the survival of John Edwards. The Southwestern states will make or break Richardson. I don’t know about Ron Paul– he is getting attention but not breaking into the top of the Republican dog-pile– he’s certainly the most reasonable and realistic of the Republicans… is that a compliment?

Who Would Jesus Vote For?

As far as I know Jesus has not yet cast his vote in this presidential race yet there are several candidates who’s supporters claim that Jesus is for their candidate.

I do believe that God cares about us and therefore cares about the outcome of this election. He did give us freewill and the ability to make our own mistakes– for which we have to face consequences– be that death and destruction in Iraq because our democratically elected President is a cowboy or running out of gas because we didn’t bother to fill the tank. We are responsible for our actions– our choices. It’s important to research, pray about it and vote.

I don’t claim to know who Jesus would vote for– however, he wouldn’t be able to vote unless he became a legal resident in the US.

The Candidates’ Autism Plans by Dr. Chew

I found this and thought it was worth sharing:

The Candidates’ Autism Plans

by Kristina Chew, PhD on November 24th, 2007

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her autism plan in Sioux City. She called for for $700 million in funding for autism research and education and criticized President Bush for failing to fully fund legislation such as the Combating Autism Act (CAA); Clinton noted that she co-sponsored the CAA and also, earlier this year, the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act. Referring to autism as a “national health crisis” (as quoted in the Associated Press), Clinton said that “‘we don’t know how to cure it, and we don’t even know the best ways to treat it.’”Autism initiatives that Clinton proposed taking include:

Expanding research to identify causes of autism by doubling investments in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) efforts to identify the causes of autism, and monitoring its impact across the country

Creating an Autism Task Force charged with investigating evidence-based treatments, interventions, and services

Providing planning and demonstration grants for services for adults: Clinton will provide funding for for a one-time, single year planning grant for states and a multi-year service provision demonstration grant program to increase access to appropriate services to adults living with autism, including job training, housing, and transition services for young people leaving school. 

Improving access to post-diagnosis care, so that children can start receiving services as soon as possible after they are diagnosed.

Providing teacher training: Clinton will provide funding for school districts to ensure that teachers responsible for educating children with autism receive specialized teacher training, including ways to engage in appropriate interventions

Creating a National Technical Assistance Center that will gather and disseminate information about autism treatments, interventions, and services, and provide technical assistance; this information would be accessible through the Internet.

Guaranteeing quality, affordable health care: Clinton’s American Health Choices Plan would enable individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities to have access to quality, affordable health care for their conditions. Citing the costs of insurance and insurance premiums, Clinton pointed out that her universal health care plan would enable families to afford health care as good as that currently received by members of Congress.  Her initiatives do directly address some of my own main concerns regarding autism, namely: Education and teacher trainings; services for adults who need them; insurance coverage. 

Hillary Clinton Promised to Find Out What Causes Autism

A couple of nights ago I had CSPAN on while drifting to sleep and a Clinton Speech in New Hampshire came on. She brought up Autism– without being asked anything about it– and promised to find out what causes it. Was I dreaming?

Can she make that promise while endorsing mandatory vaccines? Seems a bit contradictory since vaccines (Thimerasol) seem to be the most likely cause. (At least Ron Paul’s health-care plan gives us a choice on vaccinations… ) There are certainly other theories– older father, environmental causes, and heredity are just some of them. Another theory for the explosion in autism diagnosis is the expansion of the definition. In past generations, people who were high functioning might have just been considered eccentric.

I don’t have any answers and,  apart from living with an autistic child and reading everything Temple Grandin writes, I have no expertise.

While I applaud Mrs. Clinton’s ambitious promise to find out what causes Autism, I’m skeptical that she can actually do it.  And, if it matters so much to her why hasn’t she done anything as a member of Congress?Don’t they hold the purse strings?

Any politician would be fool to claim apathy towards those of us who’s lives are affected by Autism– but, what have any of these folks done? Huckabee got a $400 haircut to benefit Autism Research– big deal. Richardson actually expanded services in New Mexico. What have Edwards, Clinton, Obama, McCain, Romney, Paul, Thompson and rest of the pack done?

Hillary Clinton talks about her track record– accomplishments– what has she done for the “least of these”? Am I missing something? Has she done something that I’ve missed?

I welcome your comments and am an undecided Ohio voter. I do vote and will vote for the person who, in my view, is the strongest on the Economy and on Autism.