The most succint, accurate, and articulate discription of the Bush cabal's

attack on America. It just can't be be said any better. Too bad it is from a candidate with no chance to win...female and black....

"In Her Own Words
Washington Post
Sunday, July 13, 2003; Page A06

An excerpt from Carol Moseley Braun's stump speech:

George W. Bush has mismanaged the economy in ways that are neither compassionate nor conservative.

To have transformed a budget surplus into a $300 billion deficit in two years gives conservatives a bad name.

To give tax cuts to the richest Americans while passing along a ballooning debt to our children is the opposite of compassionate.

To wreak havoc on the economy, creating the uncertainty that feeds recession and inflation simultaneously, is an outrage, and America deserves better.

Friends, these are costs the American people have every right to question and that we have every reason to oppose.

This administration's extreme political agenda will bleed the very lifeblood of our liberty under cover of war and leave us more vulnerable to surveillance and control than we have ever had to endure in this country. I am running for president, because I don't want my generation to be the first one to leave its children with less liberty, with less economic security, with less opportunity.

I believe we can salvage the freedom, the hope, the opportunity this land can still give. Our government must play its part to prepare Americans for good jobs; to ensure they can earn a living wage; to ensure they can raise their children, live with dignity, and retire with some confidence in their quality of life.

The cornerstone of this American dream is still education. This administration has hijacked the concept of leaving no child behind and turned it into an empty slogan. The very programs they have passed are being cut back in the president's latest budget. Head Start is under attack. After-school programs, which do so much to protect our children from drugs and crime, are to be gutted by 40 percent. Meanwhile, our public schools are still crumbling.

Today, the federal government contributes about 6 percent to the funding of our schools. As long as this is true, no amount of clever experimentation with school choice and mandatory testing will give our children the education they deserve.

As president, I will reform the way we pay for schools, and lift the cost of school funding off of the local property tax. There is no education reform without investment, and I will fight for federal investment to rebuild and equip our schools, so that once again our children can have the world's best education. The rungs of the ladder of opportunity are crafted in the classroom, and our nation's economic security depends on our commitment to quality education for every child and higher education for every person who wants it. Good schools must become a national priority. We can make it so. And when we do, we will build a 21st-century workforce that will keep our country strong.

Braun does have a chance. She's not favored. Her campaign has faltered. But she can win.

Her message is strong and clear. If it appeals to you, consider Molly Ivins' advice: Vote your heart in the primaries, vote your head in November.

What she needs most right now is to be regarded as a serious candidate. The Washington Post story was not all bad, and actually represents an improvement on the way some of her negatives were treated earlier in the campaign. If she can make positive strides and get her message out without any major gaffes or stumbles, she will be a serious contender. Her campaign is working contrary to some conventional wisdom (she is largely bypassing Iowa and New Hampshire at the moment), so it may take some time before the true depth and breadth of her support catches up with the pundits.

If it does happen that Braun emerges as serious contender, I wouldn't be too quick to discount her chances in the general election. The votes she loses to sexism and racism can be countered by the votes she gains by registering new voters and energizing the Democratic base, which she is doing now in the Southern states. She's not there yet, but it's too soon to say she can't win.

Good luck to your candidate. I'm really glad she's in the race. She presents herself well and IMO adds a lot.

Eloriel