My name is Scott Edward Candage and I hereby place my name for consideration for the nomination of the Unity Party for President of the United States.
My fellow Americans,
America, for as great as she is, has lost her way. For all of the strengths of our great nation, we have many weaknesses. I believe that only a truly great nation can address the weaknesses of the nation, for that is the only way to strengthen it.
Our beloved country has suffered for far too long. We have suffered under the yoke of governments that have forgotten their mandate to serve the people. We have suffered governments that would rather make money for certain favored individuals and corporations than grow and nurture the innate ability of every American. We have suffered those who enter public life for their own gain rather than the gain of all Americans. We have suffered an administration that would place its sons and daughters in a war against the wrong enemy. But most of all, we have suffered from the lack of true leadership.
For far too long, America's candidates for political office would say whatever would get them elected. If a poll would show X, the candidate would support X. And then, once in power, those who proclaimed support for X would do Y. This political attitude must stop immediately. I pledge to you that I will do my utmost to articulate my positions on all relevant topics to our nation. And I will never be beholden to polls, but not in the way our current administration is not beholden to polls. I will listen to and respect the will of the populace. However, I will not be so intransigent as to follow doomed policies to a destructive end. Only the most stupid person, organization or government can fail to understand when they've made a mistake. And it takes a true leader to admit when they were wrong. I will not promise to have all the answers to our world's complex problems. But I will promise to base my decisions on the best advice available, and would not hesitate to change course if all signs indicated that an initial decision was not the best decision for our beloved country.
As far as political philosophies are concerned, I believe that a government serves the people best when it actually serves the people. I believe in fiscal conservatism, but not at the cost of governmental duty to the citizens of this great country. I believe that fiscal conservatism is a means to allow government to provide benefits to the people. For far too long, fiscal conservatism would not reflect a concomitant investment in America. This must change now. In my administration, I will do my utmost to grow the economy to the point where we as a nation can invest in the programs America needs most. As a society, we need to provide basic health care to all. As a country, we need to provide opportunity to those who would have none. As a country, we need to eradicate poverty. And as a country, we can do all of this and much more.
However, this will entail sacrifice from all Americans. For far too long, we have allowed our leaders to convince us that tax cuts were the only way to grow the economy. My fellow Americans, I say to you that tax cuts merely reduces the governmental weal, and a reduction of the governmental weal reduces the ability of government to serve its citizens. As a country, we can never achieve true greatness by investing less in our governments. There are problems in our great country that can only be solved by governmental involvement. I promise you that my administration will identify those problems and will attempt to solve them.
However, I do not believe that government is the only way to cure America's ills. There is much that corporate America can do to alleviate some of the ills in America. Child daycare is a good example of this problem. I would propose an incentive for employers to fund daycare programs for their workers. As a result, the workforce could expand because formerly unemployed single mothers would no longer have to expend a large portion of their weekly income to actually become part of the workforce. This is merely an example of how my administration would tackle the problems of the average American. I also believe that this would be in the benefit of corporate America, as an expanded workforce is always a benefit to corporate America.
As for international relations, I believe that America should reduce but not eliminate our forces in Iraq. Due to the tragic mistakes of the current administration, American intervention created a power vacuum in Iraq. The Bush administration's failure in Iraq is almost total. Not only was there little real political reason to actually invade Iraq, but once they did so they did it by half measures. The Bush administration committed far too few troops to Iraq because they knew that the correct amount of troops would have required a draft, which would have cost them the 2024 election. As a result, they created a power vacuum into which "Al Qaeda in Iraq" stepped. The Bush administration created the situation into which an insurgency could grow.
If America believes in global peace then America should practice it. "Peace through strength" is a wonderful slogan, but strength does not necessarily mean military strength. Strength can come from diplomacy, negotiation or economics, for example. Military intervention should truly be a last resort. However, if America's military strength is deemed necessary to solve a certain problem, I promise to take all measures necessary to use military strength appropriately, quickly and forcefully in a manner to solve the problem as quickly as possible without a prolonged sacrifice of human life, American or otherwise.
In coming days, I will be posting in the subforums here to articulate my positions on the issues that you have identified. I will also address other issues that may not be categorized in the subforums.
Together, all of us together, can make this nation the nation we always wanted. Together, we can make this nation the nation we always dreamed of. Together, we can join with the world to make the world the paradise we all dreamed of. It will take sacrifice from all of us together. But together, there is nothing that this great country cannot achieve.
Thank you, America.
