Tom Vilsack Appears on CNN's "The Situation Room" Talks About Presidential Bid

Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack, who Democratic successor Secretary of State Chet Culver takes office in January, talks to host Wolf Blitzer on his run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

My Stand On Politics

These are my beliefs:

• I am for tax cuts.
• I am against the war in Iraq.
• I am for universal healthcare.
• I am for Social Security.
• I am against abortion and pro-life.
• I am for using alternative means of producing cures for diseases without aborting the fetuses just to get the stem cells.
• I am for supporting the other 98% of people who are not like the top 2% of Americans.
• I am for helping more in funding for faith-based initatives.
• I am not for corruption in any level of government.
• I am not for the legalization of marijuana or any imposition legalizing it for medicinal uses.
• I believe that there needs to be more regulations in the Congressional page program to prevent the mishaps that former Congressman Mark Foley had done to a former page.
• I believe that all people who do business with people like Jack Abramoff should be prevented from being in office again.

So, what political party should I be part of? My family is mainly Democrat, but I'm so damn confused it isn't funny.

And now, the possible 2008 candidates for President....Part 2

Third-Party and Independent Candidate Possibilities

I will not go into much detail in this section as there are several. I am going to name a party line and give you the candidate.

Constitution Party: James Gilchrist (CA)

Green Party: Nan Garrett (GA) and Kat Swift (TX)

Libertarian Party:

Filed Papers:
Steve Kubby (CA)
George Phillies (MA)

Announced candidates:
Christine Smith (CO)
Doug Stanhope (AZ)

Actively pursuing or interested in candidacy:
Lance Brown (CA)
Robert Milnes (NJ)


Prohibition Party: Gene Amondson (WA)

Reform Party, Socialist Party: None at this time of publication.

Independents: Steve Adams (KY), Jon A. Greenspon (CA), Daniel Imperato (FL), David A. Koch (UT) & Ken Goldstein (CA) and Charles T. Maxham (NJ).

Please note: Koch and Goldstein are the only Presidential and Vice-Presidential duo to automatically register to run for office.

And now, the possible 2008 candidates for President....Part 1

Yes, it is about two years until the presidential election in 2008, but there are people that are officially submitting bids with the Federal Elections Commission or conteplating on running for the presidency.

Democratic Party

Soon after 8 years after being governor in the state of Iowa, Tom Vilsack (D-IA) helped Secretary of State Chet Culver retain Democratic power in the Governor's Mansion, win back the Iowa House and Senate, and picking up two Congressional seats. Vilsack succeeded in all in these results: Culver is elected, and Lt. Governor Patty Judge, like most other offices in government are starting to turn into women's hands. Vilsack filed his papers to the FEC on November 9, 2006, only two days after the midterm elections.

Another hopeful is former Alaska senator Mike Gravel (D-AK). Gravel served as U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 and was an active candidate for Vice-President in 1972. He was notable for advocating a guaranteed annual income, which he termed a "citizen's wage," of $5,000 per person, irrespective of whether the person worked. On April 13, 2006, Gravel announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. His policy announcements to date include support for direct democracy, FairTax and withdrawal from Iraq. His is considered a very longshot candidacy since former Sen. Gravel will be 78 years old at the time of the general election and will have been out of federal politics for almost three decades at the time of the election.

Other Democrats who are pending their decision to run for the Presidency or at least expressed serious interest in it: Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), Sen. Joseph Biden (DE), Retired General Wesley Clark (AR), Former First Lady and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Former Sen. and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.), Sen. Christopher Dodd (CT), Former Sen. and 2004 Vice-Presidential Candidate John Edwards (N.C.), 2004 Presidential Candidate Sen. John Kerry (MA), Sen. Barack Obama (IL), and Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.)

Republican Party

John H. Cox (R-IL), a Chicago CPA and investor announced in March, 2006, that he is pursuing the Republican nomination for President in 2008. The most interesting thing about Cox is that he has no actual political office history: he ran unsuccessfully in Republican primaries in Illinois, for the House in 2000 and for the Senate in 2002. So far, Cox claims to have visited all 99 counties in Iowa, and according to a schedule posted on his Website, continues to make regular visits there (11 at last count, according to the Website.) The schedule also indicates that he has made nine campaign trips to New Hampshire since March, 2006, most recently in November, 2006, and has toured the early primary state of South Carolina six times since announcing his candidacy.

Michael Charles Smith (R-OR) has announced his intention to run as a "zealous moderate." He considers himself to be Fiscal Conservative, Social libertarian, Parent, Pro State, and was a former linguist for the military. His only governmental experience was being a Village Trustee in Garrett, Illinois. He intends to only campaign in Oregon, hoping that by gaining 5,000 votes he could be put on the ballot and at least attend the Republican National Convention. He has said on his website, "I’m serious about this but I’m a realist about the odds". He is running because of his frustration with the Republican Party being too conservative with diminishing moderate voices.

Other Republicans who have formed exploratory committees in their run for the Presidency: Former New York City mayor Rudolph "Rudy" Guiliani (N.Y.), Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA), and former 2000 and 2004 Republican primary election nominee and Sen. John McCain (AZ).

Other Republicans who are pending or serious considering a run for the presidency: Sen. George Allen (VA, soon to be out of office), Sen. Sam Brownback (KS), Sen. Bill Frist (TN), Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (GA), Sen. Chuck Hagel (NE), Governor Mike Huckabee (AR) , Governor George Pataki (N.Y.) , Governor Mitt Romney (MA) and former Governor Tommy Thompson (WI).