The 57th US presidential election is already under way, and the voting may start even earlier than in previous seasons with states jockeying to be the first to hold an actual primary or caucus vote. What has this got to do with mariners?
Consider the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon incident last year: the Gulf drilling moratorium, increased federal regulation of offshore industry, even calls to repeal or scale back the Jones Act. Consider the recent debt ceiling debate and the possibly deep cuts in even the most "third rail" federal programs. If Washington can go after Medicare and Social Security, what happens to Navy and Coast Guard operating and shipbuilding budgets, or to the Corps of Engineers and the infrastructure it maintains? What about the Department of Homeland Security's often rough relationship with commercial mariners, from the implementation of new STCW standards to TWIC card requirements?
The fact is, it matters to mariners who is president, even if maritime issues are are rarely if ever discussed by the mainstream media covering presidential elections. If you could ask a presidential candidate a question about an issue important to you, what would it be? I'm going to do just that, and I'm asking for your help.
Send me your questions at misunderstoodmariner@yahoo.com or leave them in the Comments section here. I'll put together a list of the most common ones and ask each of the candidates for their responses (not just the Democrats and Republicans, either, as I know several mariners who voted for Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, and other "minor party" candidates in past elections). The questions I submit will be related to maritime matters; if you really want to know if Sarah Palin is crazy, Newt Gingrich is a philanderer, or Barack Obama is Kenyan, there are plenty of blogs that address those issues. Please do indicate if your question is for a specific candidate or for all of them.
I'll report back on the answers I get the Monday before Election Day this November.
Presidential Candidates. An asterisk indicates a candidate who has not declared or formed an exploratory committee as defined by federal election laws.
Democratic Party
Barack Obama
Randall Terry
Independent Candidates
Robert Burck*
Charlie Crist*
Tim Gay Sr.*
Charles Harvey*
Becky Rusher*
Libertarian Party
Roger Gary
Carl Person
Wayne Allyn Root*
R. Lee Wrights
Republican Party
Michelle Bachman
John Bolton*
Scott Brown*
Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich
Jon Greenspon
Rudy Giuliani*
Lindsey Graham*
Jon Huntsman
Gary Johnson
Fred Karger
Andy Martin
Thad Cother
Jimmy McMillan
Tom Miller
Ray Moore
Sarah Palin*
Ron Paul
Tim Pawlenty
Rick Perry*
Buddy Roemer
Mitt Romney
Paul Ryan*
Rick Santorum
Joe Scarborough*
Allen West*
Vern Wuensche
Socialist Party
Stewart Alexander
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