the debates

so there was the first of the three presidential debates last night.

sadly, both speakers turned out pretty poor, maybe John Kerry edging out Bush in terms of style and eloquence, but I think Bush had an upper hand in terms of content and substance.

as I am ineligible to vote, all I can do it critique about this whole thing, but its pretty weird to think that all these campaigning is going to a very small percentage of the general population. about 90% of registered voters have already decided who they're going to vote for. if you ask me, the Republicans will vote for whoever that is representing them, so its not really that Bush is good, its just that he's the best candidate for a Republican. likewise for Kerry, the Democrats are going to vote for Kerry not because he is the most suitable candidate, but because he's a Democrat.

so the remaining 10% gets to decide who really should win. I hoped that there would be more people like me who will vote for the 'better' candidate instead of sticking loyally to their political party preference. I look at what each candidate has to offer, what their plans are and how truthful they seem. I used to be anti-Bush, hence, making me a Kerry supporter, but after taking on this english class, im starting to think differently and evaluating each candidate for their promises. its amazing to think that almost 10 million dollars is being spent on 10% of the voters who will swing the elections either way.

the only issues i am concerned about are the draft and the american foreign policy. personally, i think that the president of the United States is technically the president of the world. hence, I agree with some writers who say that people outside the United States should be allowed to vote too, because they too are affected by whoever is elected, be it Iraqis, Afghans, Iranian or North Koreans.

my privacy is affected because of what happened. but i cant complain, as it is necessary to secure all of our security. but at the same time, at what cost? sometimes the things that is being done is ridiculous.

even if it is an election for the Americans, by which domestic issues should be of the upmost concern, it is also the choice of the rest of the world, who will be affected by whoever gets elected.