Because of the importance of the decision in front of us. I’ve spent hundreds of hours of my personal time doing research on the candidates.
I’ve traded numerous e-mails with leading supporters of each candidate, who pointed me at numerous studies and arguments in defense of Bush. I wanted to thoroughly understand both sides of the issue before reaching a conclusion.
I take my constitutional right to vote very seriously. For
me, that meant spending hundreds of hours reading news articles, searching the
Internet, watching all the debates, and meeting one-on-one with each major
candidate. I’ve been to Austin, Texas recently. I’ve been to both Republican
and Democratic websites. And for every story I read on one site, I search the
other site for the opposing view. When I couldn’t find supporting data, I
e-mailed or phoned into backdoor contacts at each campaign. Key articles from my
research are included below but there is much more that you can’t see that I
haven’t had time to post.
I also spent time talking with the prominent supporters of
each candidate. These are all people who I greatly admire and respect for
their accomplishments as well as for their thought process. Yet they are split
on which candidate would make a better President.
I’ve also talked with my friends and business associates. Again, some people support Bush, others Gore. And I listened carefully to their reasons.