Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Edwards is the best bet for the Democrats in 2004 WES WOLFE GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM The North Carolina senator is a standout in the group of 9 candiates There are six more months until the first votes are cast in the Democratic presidential primary campaign, but laying odds on the race is still a major occupation for the head political journalists in the nation. Most put the top three candidates as Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri. The overlooked candidate here is the young senator from North Carolina, John Edwards. Edwards led the rest of his opponents for fund-raising totals for the first quarter of this year. Many political experts consider fund raising one of the most important parts of a primary campaign. Elizabeth Dole, now Edwards' colleague as the junior senator from North Carolina, had to drop out of the 2000 Republican presidential primary campaign before the first vote was cast because she could not raise enough money to compete. Even after finishing third in the second quarter fund-raising report, Edwards still has considerable muscle where campaign finance is concerned. Also, Edwards has shown his commitment to real fights. He introduced the "College for Everyone" plan, which provides states with the ability to make the first year of college free to qualified students. Plus, Edwards is dedicated to, as president, reimbursing students' tuition if they make a five-year commitment to work with the nation's homeland security. Edwards also co-authored health care legislation that allows women direct access to gynecologists, parents direct access to pediatricians and lowers prescription drug prices. The senator has a plan to get America working again, too. During the unprecedented economic growth during the Clinton years, former President Bill Clinton ensured economic growth by balancing the budget in Washington and targeting tax cuts at the middle class. Edwards has a similar idea: run a tight ship on the federal budget and provide tax breaks to working families, who create the demand in our economy. If nothing else, the Democrats should give Edwards the nomination because he's the first candidate to be attacked by the GOP in a real way. A Republican-affiliated insurance industry group is buying billboards in Iowa and New Hampshire to attack Edwards. If the Republicans are so scared of him this early, shouldn’t Democrats be running to Edwards? Yes. This is a man who represents the best of what American opportunity means, and he wants to give everyone that chance to succeed. As Sen. Edwards says, "In America, do we still believe that the son of a mill worker can go toe to toe with the son of a president? Ido." So do I. Wes Wolfe is a fourth-year public relations student. IN YOUR OPINION Cantanese spreads war misinformation Elizabeth Catanese needs to recheck some facts before claim ing that Iraq has no WMD’s. First, multiple scientists have already come out and stated they were working on WMD’s for Hussein as late as last year. Second, buried documents behind a scientists home show a current WMD program happening in Iraq. Third, Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people before. Fourth, barrels found dumped in the Tigris River are currently being examined. A mo bile weapons factory was found abandoned, and weapons may have been moved to friendly, neighboring countries like Syria. The mere fact that you would lump Israel in with Iraqi atroci ties shows how little you know about world affairs. Comparing the only democratic, free society in the Arab world to a ruthless, brutal dictatorship which gasses itsown citizens and terrorizes its neighbors shows your ignorance, if not stupidity. If not for Israel bombing Iraq’s nuclear facility in the 1980’s, Israel would have been pushed into the sea long ago. Israel defends herself against hos tile aggression. Also, people who claim “war for oil” allow clear thinkers to in stantly identify the intellectual strong from weak when they hear this argument. If this were the case, we would have invaded Saudi Arabia since 17 of the hi jackers came from there and tak en their oil fields, and would have taken control of Iraqi’s oil fields in 1991. I suppose you will let this little fact go when you look back in 5 years and see that we no longer have anything to do with controlling Iraqi’s oil fields. DOUG SKLENKA HISTORY/ECON MAJOR 1991 Submission Policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. E-mail letters to gamecockviewppints@hotmail.com. Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. Winners and Sinners USC TRUSTEES The master plan may hurt now, but will benefit the university in the long run. . WOMEN IN IRAQ Iraqi women are fighting for ^ the basic right of equality under the law. ALDERMAN DOUGLAS Local musician got his foot in the door and hopefully it will pay off. OHIO STATE One more example of the dark side r of college athletics. | PRESIDENT BUSH 1.9 trillion in new debt? P What happened to the “Fiscally conservative” GOP? QUENTIN TARANTINO Director to release movie in two parts. Ego, ego, ego. Gamecock Quotables “You can really see how much the Trustees care about the students when they raise tuition and take our parking spots to beautify a space that only a few students see.” TRACI HUNTER THIRD-YEAR ADVERTISING STUDENT ON THE PRESTON GREEN PUN “The decision to update the mascot was based on the belief that a Disney-like elderly plantation person is not representative of a modem athletics program..” ROBERT KHAYAT UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI PRESIDENT ON REPLACING THE COLONEL REB MASCOT GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. ONLINE This week’s question What do you think about the parking changes? Vote at www.dailygame cock.com. IN THEIR WORDS “From the reaction to Canada's liberalizing the legal definition of marriage to include gay unions, you'd think the Soviets were parking missiles along our northern border.” BRIAN CARPENTER TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY DAILY “Ohio State officials assured concerned fans Sunday that its national championship was not under threat after The New York Times accusations brought against star tailback Maurice Clarett and a faculty member came to light.” CHRIS JUHL THE OHIO STATE LANTERN