Presidents

When people elect a president they vote for the candidate based on their values and what they say they’re going to do while in office. However, this article brings up a very valid point. What would have happen had certain candidates spoken out on what they truly believed? Would President Bush been elected if he had supported gay rights openly? Gay rights, especially the right to marriage, has been an issue for many years and was a main focal point in the 2000 elections. Bush adamantly stated throughout his election and two terms in office that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman. Many conservatives agreed with his public views and didn’t question him on that subject. However, had he campaigned for gay rights, and possibly gay marriage, would he have led this country for eight years? If not, would Gore or Kerry have made gay rights as big of an issue as Bush did? Questions like these may not be the top “what if” questions on people’s minds if Bush hadn’t become president. Many might wonder if we would still be at war, or even if we would have gone to war with Iraq, if it hadn’t have been for Bush. Would America have its twelve trillion dollar, and growing, debt had Gore or Kerry become president? Unfortunately, we will never really know. All we can do is speculate and think about the “what ifs” of what could have been.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/secret-lives-of-the-presidents/?ref=opinion