The Presidential and Vice Presidential debates have always been the most entertaining part of the election season for me. From the past debates that I’m seen, they’ve usually been less about the issues and more about creating an impression to the American people about the personality and character of the particular candidates. My first Presidential debate that I remember is the Reagan/Carter debate in 1980, and I just remember Reagan saying “there you go again” whenever Carter criticized Reagan. Though a lot of the debates seem canned, they do offer a chance to see the candidates perform alone without the handlers and p.r. people, and it gives us a chance to see how the candidates think on their feet. I found on the internet a site that Jim Lehrer hosted for PBS called Debating Our Destiny that looked back on the televised Presidential and Vice debates and interviewed the candidates to see their thoughts on the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. As we listen to the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates in these next few weeks, I’ve found this site to be illuminating and it gives me some perspective on the goals and approaches that John McCain, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Joe Biden may take.

This year has been one most interesting election years in my years of voting. The primaries with divervse views represented by Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul. The contest for the nomination between Hillary and Obama. The resurrection of McCain in the Republican race. The emergence of Sarah Palin. This election season has gone through so many twists and turns. I’m excited by these elections because the Obama, Clinton, and even Palin candidacies are breaking down barriers of racism and sexism. These candidates have faced their share of racism and sexism to break down these barriers and these reactions show how far America has to go to be rid of these vices.

When my wife and I went on a short vacation last week to see her grandmother, we kept encountering conversations with people concerned about the problems of our nation. On hikes, in restaurants, while shopping, people were talking about the economy, about the elections, about the hurricane hitting the South. We spent a wonderful time with my inlaws and my wife’s grandmother. Even in the far off island of Kauai, however, the problems of the world were in everyone’s minds.

I have always been a liberal Democrat. Over the past few years I’ve grown more curious to learn about the various trains of thought that make up today’s progressive movement. And as an illustrator, I am always looking for places that will publish my work. A coworker, who is more knowledgeable about these matters and seems a more committed leftist, recommended that I try reading and submitting my cartoons to Z Magazine, a progressive magazine that is based in Boston. Ever since the first issue arrived at my mailbox, I’ve been a fan of this magazine. It covers the efforts of activists around the world to press for a more radical progressive vision to resolve the problems of the environment, the problems of poverty and the exploitation of marginalized groups, of the need to reign in corporations and the need for a more just economic system.

Yesterday I watched the Republican convention. It was an enjoyable evening listening to Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Huckabee, even though I didn’t agree to many of the things they said. The highlight of the evening, of course, was Sarah Palin, and I liked her combativeness and personality, even if I didn’t agree with much of what she said either. A common theme among the speakers yesterday was Barack Obama’s supposed lack of experience for the Presidential office as compared to Sarah Palin. It amused me to hear this, but it also got me to want to write this blog about Obama’s experience in government. I got this information from the book The Almanac of American Politics 2008.

The book sleeve gives a succinct introduction to Binka Le Breton’s book The Greatest Gift: The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang:

“In 1966, Sister Dorothy Stang went to Brazil as a missionary, and in 1982 she moved to a small town on the Amazon to work with an organization to protect poor farmers and their land from loggers and land developers who stop at nothing- including murder- in pursuit of profits. After testifying at a government panel investigating illegal incursions into protected areas, Sister Dorothy was denounced as a ‘terrorist’ by powerful companies and began receiving death threats. Refusing to be intimidated, she continued her work- until two gunmen shot her six times on a rural Amazon road.”