Opinions: Find a candidate, find a solution

 by Sarah Maschoff
 published on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

When our fair country declared unofficial war in Iraq or on Iraq (who really knows anymore?), President Bush's approval rating was nearly 92 percent.

Now, five years later, his approval rating has consistently stayed in the lower 30 percentile, showing that most Americans have tired of the way our president is handling not only this current war — which has claimed nearly 3990 lives — but also our foreign and domestic policies in general.

Therefore, as the country grows increasingly tired of one failed policy after another, we are now looking toward the new batch of presidential hopefuls in the form of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Arizona's own, John McCain, to find some solution to this ever-present problem.

So what exactly is America looking for in these new possible presidents? Well, if President Bush's approval rating says anything, I would think that most Americans are looking for a way out.

If you asked your grandparents or even your great-grandparents whom they were fighting during both World Wars, they would instantly be able to tell you. However, if you posed that same question to a number of Americans today as to who we are fighting in Iraq, most likely they would draw a blank, or give some generalized, rehearsed answer of "al-Qaeda" or "terrorists," or, my personal favorite, "for freedom." And just like if you asked your parents whom we were fighting in Vietnam, unfortunately, they would probably come up with a similarly uncertain answer.

Therefore, if history tells us anything — and believe me it does — most Americans are looking for a way to avoid another Vietnam-type situation, with one president after another promising and failing to find peace within a war-torn region. For that reason, we must ask: where do the candidates stand on Iraq?

Obviously both Democratic candidates have made unending campaign statements promising a quick and strategic pull-out of all troops, though Obama's plan is slightly quicker than Clinton's. However, McCain has echoed the Republican Party's consistent backing of President Bush's war plan, and has stated matter-of-factly that if elected president, he would continue the troop surge within the country, and "get the job done." Now McCain has stated several times that this very concrete stance might actually hurt his chances to nab the White House. Though he has seemed overwhelmingly popular among some Republicans and Democrats alike, he's probably right.

Four presidential administrations between 1960-1975 presented the same attitude as McCain before President Ford finally pulled the final American troops out of Vietnam. This was after nearly 60,000 Americans lost their lives. America needs to learn from this and find a new president who promises to use American lives, money and resources on reform more toward domestic issues like education and health care, or even on foreign issues like ending the genocide in Darfur.

History is repeating itself right in front of our generation's eyes, and now we must look to a candidate that will bring a steady and beneficial end to a war that could very well go on for the next 100 years, especially if our only strategy is to "get–r-done."

There are many issues on the table for Americans to consider when marking their ballots in November. However, during the eighth year of Bush No. 2 and the fifth year of Vietnam No. 2, our country must find a united stance that will benefit not only the United States, but all the people and nations involved in this war.

It will not be an easy job for whoever enters the White House in early 2009, and I certainly do not envy the decisions they will be forced to make. But before then, all Americans have the hard job of deciding who exactly will bring about the appropriate change needed for all interested parties. For the first time in the history of our country, we have three diverse and intelligent candidates who bring something unique and different to the political table.

This war may be five years old this week, but hopefully the next president to see the Oval Office will make sure that this time next year, we will be celebrating our booming economy, rather than mourning the loss of 4,000 more American lives.

You can reach Sarah by e-mail at: sarah.maschoff@asu.edu.