·Voting for Gore (11.7.2000) ·Down the Stretch: Still Reserving Final Judgment (10.31.2000) ·After The Final Debate: Tipping Slightly Toward Gore After His Strong Showing (10.20.2000) ·After the Second Debate: Still Waiting to Hear a Reason to Vote for One Guy Over the Other (10.13.2000) ·After the First Debate: Tie Goes to the Guy Who Didn't Screw it Up? (10.4.2000) ·Introduction (10.2.2000) Colleen is 25 years old and works as a web editor for a large private university. She is engaged to be married. In 1992 she was ineligible to vote. In 1996 she voted for Bill Clinton. taxes, welfare, and social security She is regular church-goer and is pro-choice. She believes in practicing abstinence, but doesn't want the government to get involved in these areas.

Well, we're only a few weeks away from the election and if I had to vote tomorrow, it would be for Gore - but with a worried heart. I think he won the debate Tuesday night and I was very impressed with his immense grasp of ALL issues. He stayed relatively focused. He was on the attack without being a brat. And he demonstrated an obvious intelligence. Bush, on the other hand, for the first time truly looked to me the way he is often ridiculed - a bumbling fool with no clear idea of what he's gotten himself into.

The Dingell-Norwood bill, "three times bigger government," Middle East timetables, affirmative action... he didn't seem to understand any of these concepts. He even looked bewildered at the phrase "red herring." There were a few moments when I actually felt embarrassed for him - not a feeling I want my future president to inspire in me. On issues such as education, medicare and social security, both candidates reiterated the same mantras we've been hearing for a month. Bush at least was more clear on the purpose of the military, but I was disturbed by Gore's assertion that Bush wants to skip a generation of technology upgrades for the military. I haven't been able to determine where this factoid came from, but would be very interested to have it verified. Then came the tax question...

The single, middle-class woman who asked what each candidate's tax plan would do for her got right to the heart of my concerns. And Gore gave me what I wanted to hear. Government matches for savings (and clear amounts of those matches based on salary). Tax credits for education. Tax relief to care for aging relatives. Bush? Well, he didn't actually answer the question, choosing instead to wax poetic about the world in which we will live. But I know from examining his tax plan that I will get about a two percent deduction. Gore's a better deal.

In the end, Gore just seemed to want it more. He seemed far more passionate about it. And he seemed to understand the issues at stake and how to deal with them effectively. Bush likes to promote himself as the "non-insider" candidate. There's a quote from Mark Twain I like: "We will not hire a blacksmith who never lifted a sledge. We will not hire a school teacher who does not know the alphabet. We will not have a man about us in our business life unless he has served an apprenticeship and can prove that he is capable of doing the work he offers to do. But when you come to our civil service, we serenely fill great numbers of our public offices with ignoramuses." I don't think Gore's 26 years in Washington are necessarily a bad thing. And while I still mistrust his numerous exaggerations, at the moment I feel more confident in his abilities to do the grunt work of the job.

·Voting for Gore (11.7.2000) ·Down the Stretch: Still Reserving Final Judgment (10.31.2000) ·After The Final Debate: Tipping Slightly Toward Gore After His Strong Showing (10.20.2000) ·After the Second Debate: Still Waiting to Hear a Reason to Vote for One Guy Over the Other (10.13.2000) ·After the First Debate: Tie Goes to the Guy Who Didn't Screw it Up? (10.4.2000) ·Introduction (10.2.2000)