Political Argument
An Unrenowned Candidate
Untapped potential, fame and fortune, and controversies flood the world of politics. Nevertheless, fame and fortune rule over untapped potential in this year’s presidential election campaign. Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, for example, overshadow presidential candidates like Joseph Biden. We, the American public, look for known candidates rather than candidates who have charisma, potential leadership, and uniqueness. We decide who the president of the United States becomes, but we do not always choose the best candidate because we are insecure at times about who is most able to carry our nation. Our insecurity leads us to electing a well-known candidate rather than a strong candidate.
The issue of electing presidential candidates does not always face the situation of electing a candidate who is more famous over a well qualified candidate. A renowned presidential candidate can be better qualified than an unrenowned candidate at times. For example, a number of widely unknown presidential candidates have less potential leadership than presidential candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. However, the strongest and most decisive candidates are usually overshadowed by prominent candidates.
Former 2008 presidential candidate, Joe Biden was among the unrenowned, but still fought to be noticed by Americans. He passionately supported issues such as healthcare coverage, strengthening the education system, and rebuilding friendly foreign policies. For instance, Joe Biden’s healthcare plan supported the coverage of all children by “expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to at least 300 percent of the federal poverty level” (www.joebiden.com). On the other hand, Clinton proposes to have affordable health insurance instead of requiring the coverage of children (www.clinton.com). Clinton’s proposal is somewhat beneficial to the American public, but Biden’s proposal appealed to larger amounts of people with families to support. He understood and wanted to aid the American people with the current healthcare crisis. Another issue where Biden stood strong and determined was improving the education system. Biden argued for the modernization of all schools and increasing teacher salary. He stated that if an engineer’s starting salary is 58,000 then why is a teacher’s starting salary be around 32,000 since they both require a sufficient amount of work and effort. In contrast, Barack Obama believes districts should “be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators.” Therefore, implying the money spent on rewards will be taken out of the district’s budget (www.barackobama.com). Despite these overwhelming important issues, there lies the issue of foreign policies and relationships. Foreign policies and relationships are an issue in which Biden had considerable knowledge. Joe Biden “pushed for the SALT II treaty, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and the convention banning chemical weapons,” all promoted securing and eliminating the worst weapons. He was also the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; therefore, he had a better chance of reaching peaceful foreign relationships. Joe Biden, unrenowned former candidate, supported these issues with great character and strength (www.joebiden.com).
Candidates like Joe Biden are given the chance to run for the presidential election, but are not widely supported by the American public. We as Americans elect prominent candidates who seem to fit the position. We as Americans seem to give everyone a fair chance. However, we as Americans do not always support overlooked candidate. Therefore, support not only known candidates, but candidates who deserve our support for the betterment of America.
Pooja Shah
