Vital national interests should rise to the top of any candidate’s core values

And like many oaths of office suggest, national interests are both domestic and foreign. And they are at all levels: federal, state, and local. Not even a President of the USA can dictate legislative results, though many candidates suggest they can. It takes a bottom up and team approach for things to happen in our National Interests, again domestic and foreign.

Deciphering and differentiating between what a candidate for any office promises, and what they believe, is the one of the main dilemmas of voters. Now there are other factors that this author cannot understand, but can try explain. President Clinton gathered a majority of the women’s vote, and a minority of the men’s vote, and in both votes, less than 50% of the total vote, even as he won the Presidency in 1992 and 1996. And it was popular in the first two years after he was elected in 1992 to ask the question: “what are his core values”? No one knew…the answer was the proverbial blank stare. Is this what we Americans want again?

Questions many still wonder about should be presented to the public before they vote. The answers may give a hint as to core values.
A. For Hillary Clinton, why is her personal staff, nicknamed Hillaryland, all female (11 of them I think)?
B. Why is so little known about Huma Abedin, her constant female aid?
C. Why did she tell the press the day after her husband’s election to President in 1991 that she was adding Rodham to the requirement for her name in press releases. All this was after she changed her name from Hillary Rodham to Hillary Clinton after her husband lost his earlier reelection for Governor in Arkansas.
D. For McCain, remind us once again about his part in the Keating Five.
E. For Obama, why doesn't he have a federal voting record of positions, vice parliamentary waffles?
F. Once and for all, is he for or against legalizing marijuana since he has taken both sides of the question?
G. For Romney and Huckabee, many have questions that I don’t have right now. Core values on abortion would be a good start.

And we Americans are still in the primary stage of a 2008 election period when politicians are running to their base before they move to the middle, if most follow the common strategies. Just how Clinton reconciles promises of 800 million dollars in more benefits than exist today with a general election will depend on whether she is the nominee? It is the core values part of this question that is very intriguing.

Much has been said about our Country working together to solve our common problems. Much of the talk is noble and flowery, and of course, for the best. The core value question is: is it just talk? Many citizens will say that they value integrity and an honest statement of core values as much as they value agreement with their values and being pandered to. This is a powerful point, since much of our future is both unknown and is not determined by we Americans alone. In the same vein, much of our future is determined by our votes, local, state, and federal. Is there a better way to chart the course of a new world country such as the USA? Let integrity and core values be important in all elections as we citizens vote. And there are other Americans still out there. We are not stuck with the present volunteers if judged lacking in integrity and core values.

Now back to trying to figure the present volunteers out. A common American saying comes to mind.
Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.