IT IS TIME FOR A PRESIDENT WITH INTEGRITY

We hear it everyday – it's time for a Woman President, it's time for a Black President, it's time for a Latino President, it's time for a Mormon President.

None of those issues above concern me. What I am interested in is a President with INTEGRITY and who has the capability to understand complex issues.

Many people say that Hillary Clinton has the election wrapped up. According to an August 6, 2007 poll on MSNBC: White House 2008 rankings: The Democrats, she is number one. Yet a story about Hillary in July showed that while women support Hillary more than men, and 54% of the voters in the last Presidential Election were women, older married women remain skeptical about Hillary as their president: Women Supportive but Skeptical of Clinton, Poll Says .

I don't support Hillary because she voted for the Iraq war, and later, when we learned that this Administration had lied to us about why we needed to go into Iraq, she still did not apologize for her vote. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Hillary is quite capable of being our president. She is certainly articulate, and she is able to comprehend all of the subtle nuances of being in charge. She just doesn't represent my opinions all of the time. If I wanted to vote for a woman for president, it would be Barbara Boxer. Unfortunately, she isn't running. Senator Boxer has taken a strong position for the American people. When Condoleezza Rice was going for her Senate confirmation hearings to be Secretary of State, it was Barbara Boxer who said that Secretary Rice was the person who should have known about the terrorist threats prior to 9/11, and that she should have gotten that information to the President. Senator Boxer said that Secretary Rice was also aware of the White House intelligence before we went to Iraq. Senator Boxer tried her best to make the public aware of Secretary Rice's failures.

I thought that there was strong support for a Black president prior to the 2000 election. Colin Powell was at the height of his popularity then. There was talk of putting him on the Republican ticket with Bush instead of Cheney. Can you imagine where we would be today if Powell had been Bush's Vice President instead of Dick Cheney? I bet if you asked anyone who knows anything about how we got into Iraq: "Who do you feel was most responsible for Americans believing that Iraq was trying to hide nuclear and chemical weapons?", they would say Colin Powell. Secretary of State Powell was not a hawk at that time. He wanted diplomacy. When he told the United Nations that Iraq was trying to get nuclear weapons, we believed him. Unfortunately, he was used. He has, in my opinion, lost all of his credibility with the American public.

If I really believed that a majority of Americans would vote for a Black president, I would consider Barack Obama. Many consider him to be a person who could bring a change to Washington politics. He was always against the war, but since he was not in the Senate at the time of the vote, he did not cast one. The Republican smear machine has already been after Barack. They have tried to make him out to be a Muslim because of his middle name Hussein, and because he attended a "madrasah" which just means school in Arabic.

After the 2006 Congressional elections, when I saw how the Republicans went after Harold Ford Jr. who was running for Senate in Tennessee, I realized that Americans, in some states, will be unable to see beyond the color of someone's skin.

The Latino vote. I like Governor Richardson. He has had a lot of experience as a Governor to know how to run a budget; he has been the Secretary of Energy, so he knows about energy and environmental issues; he has been the Ambassador to the United Nations, so he has diplomatic experience. His state also borders Mexico, so he knows the subtleties of the immigration issue. In fact, he may be one of the most capable of handling the presidency. Yet he may generate some negative "Latino" press because of the recent Mayor Villaraigosa scandal. Whether Villaraigosa and Richardson have the same political views, detractors will often paint them with the same brush.

A Mormon President. I have some great Mormon friends. Nothing about any mainstream religion prevents me from voting for someone who has a religious belief if it is kept separate from his or her work.

This current Administration has been caught lying to us so much that we no longer believe anything that they say. Karl Rove has just been subpoenaed by Congress, and President Bush will not let him testify because of Executive Privilege. Scooter Libby was just pardoned by Bush, but the implications of his indictment imply the guilt of other White House officials in committing what I believe to be treasonous acts (outing a CIA agent).

When you have a President who says that he learns things from being briefed and not from reading the newspapers himself, I believe that it is someone else who is making his decisions and his policies. I don't know how a briefing would replace reading a legal document that you are signing. In the end, you are held responsible for everything that you sign.

Al Gore has taken the time to point out the mistakes that we all have made that have led us to the Bush Presidency. I am not going to say to the Bush election, because I believe that it was Gore who actually won. We need someone with INTEGRITY to bring back respect for the Presidency to the American people. We need a president with INTEGRITY for the rest of the world to again respect us as Americans.

Al Gore is both trustworthy and he is capable. He is popular throughout the world because of his movie "An Inconvenient Truth", his "LIVE EARTH" concert, and his recent book "The Assault on Reason". Al Gore's experience as Senator and Vice – President, and his many books about the environment and politics, make him the most capable to be our next President.