Get ‘em while they’re interesting

The 2008 presidential election marks the first time in 80 years that there has been neither an incumbent presidential nor vice-presidential candidate. We at VITAL Source are celebrating Independence Day and the kick-off of the official campaign season with a collection of quotes from the Democratic and Republican candidates. We’ve spent days pouring over campaign speeches, reading debate transcripts and closely examining candidates’ websites to cull out a few small nuggets that articulate each candidate’s feelings about the current state of our country.
Exactly what these nuggets are made of is up to you to decide…

Senator Joseph Biden
Look, freedom is an overwhelming American notion. The idea that we want to see the world, the peoples of the world, free is something that all of us subscribe to.

Here at home, when Americans were standing in long lines to give blood after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we squandered an obvious opportunity to make service a noble cause again, and rekindle an American spirit of community.

The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.

Senator Christopher Dodd
Entrenched bureaucracies are always opposed to fundamental changes.

Every American deserves to live in freedom, to have his or her privacy respected and a chance to go as far as their ability and effort will take them – regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or economic circumstances.

Former Senator John Edwards
This is America, where everything is still possible.

I have grown up in the bright light of America.

Former Senator Mike Gravel
We have become a nation ruled by fear. Since the end of the Second World War, various political leaders have fostered fear in the American people—fear of Communism, fear of terrorism, fear of immigrants, fear of people based on race and religion, fear of Gays and Lesbians in love who just want to get married, and fear of people who are somehow different. It is fear that allows political leaders to manipulate us all and distort our national priorities.

It’s like going into the Senate. You know, the first time you get there, you’re all excited, “My God, how did I ever get here?” Then, about six months later, you say, “How the hell did the rest of them get here?”

Representative Dennis Kucinich
We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction.

This is a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which in too many cases has become so corporate and identified with corporate interests that you can’t tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Senator Barack Obama
There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

Governor Bill Richardson
Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, our nation is stronger when we are respected throughout the world.

Few needs are more pressing, or more deserving of our attention, than taking care of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces.

Senator John Brownback
Today, as we look back on the history of our nation and take note of how far we have come as a people, we are reminded that we owe a great debt to those who fought valiantly for the freedoms that we easily take for granted.

We must take proactive steps to promote democracy and human rights abroad.

Former Governor Jim Gilmore
We need to let people across the world know that we have their interests at heart, as we did during the Cold War. This helps American interests.

I believe there should not be an automatic path to citizenship. We should control the borders, and then require illegals to come in and register. Then we can have an honest debate on immigration reform.

Former Mayor Rudy Guiliani
Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it.

America needs to be defended. We need missile defense to better police the skies over the United States.

Former Governor Mike Huckabee
Inside every human being there are treasures to unlock.

I believe life begins at conception, and I believe that we should do everything possible to protect that life because it is the centerpiece of what makes us unique as an American people. We value the life of one as if it’s the life of all, and that’s why we look for miners when the mine explodes, because we value life, and it’s what separates us from the Islamic jihadists who are out to kill us. They celebrate death. They have a culture of death. Ours is a culture of life.

Representative Duncan Hunter
Fences work and the walls work and separations work. They afford to any nation the delay of entry.

Nothing matures a military force quicker than actual military operations.

Senator John McCain
We are the world’s only superpower, with armed forces so powerful that they deter all but the most irrational of adversaries from significantly challenging our security. We don’t have as much to fear as we had in the past. Courage may be in scarce supply, but the demand appears down as well. And we have come to grade courage on the curve.

There are jobs that Americans will not do, so we have to make it possible for someone to come to this country to do a job that an American won’t do and then go back to the country from where they came.

Representative Ron Paul
I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.

I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government.

Former Governor Mitt Romney
America’s culture is also defined by the fact that we are a religious people. We recognize our God not only in our Declaration of Independence, but even in our currency. And we are also unique in that we recognize that the family is the fundamental building block of American society.

And the American people are the greatest people in the world. What makes America the greatest nation in the world is the heart of the American people: hardworking, innovative, risk-taking, God- loving, family-oriented American people.

The Democratic Party looks at massive immigration, legal and illegal, as a source of voters … The Republican Party looks at massive immigration, legal and illegal, as a source of cheap labor, satisfying a very important constituency.

Former Senator Fred Thompson
Over the years, a lot of people have tried to talk us out of feeling about America the way we do. Instead of pride in what America has done, they want us to feel guilty — generally because we have so much more than rest of the world. Of course, it wouldn’t help the rest of the world one whit if we had less — either of freedom or of prosperity. On the contrary, it’s our liberties that have made us prosperous and there’s no reason the rest of the world couldn’t be just as well-off — if they embraced freedom as well.

The professionalization of politics saps people’s courage. Their desire to keep their job and not upset anybody overrides all else—even if it hurts the country.

Former Governor Tommy Thompson
I’ve also always believed that patriotism isn’t just expressed by flying the flag. It’s about more than that. Patriotism means we all share a part in something larger than ourselves. In all of our differences, there are some things we all have in common. In all our diversity, each of us still has a bond with every other person. Our patriotism is proven by our concern for others, by our generosity and our compassion, by a willingness to sacrifice for people we may never see and families we may never meet.

We have a real serious problem facing us in America. It’s nothing to get real worried about, just be careful. If you are out, make sure you put some mosquito repellent on.