The polls say this, the polls say that. This group is alleging this, this group that. Who cares about voting? The candidates are all alike. At the JFP, we reject the idea of "horse race" campaign reporting—that is, reporting on the race more than the issues at stake. Too often, what really matters gets lost in the sensationalist headline of the day. So, between now and Election Day, we will feature at least two major issues each week, breaking down the positions of the presidential candidates, as well as local politicians, as best as we can. In addition, we are launching the 2004 JFP PoliticsBlog at jacksonfreepress.com with a special page prepared by Ayana Taylor on each candidate who will appear on Jackson ballots in November—from president to local election commissioners. We will also feature these issue summaries on the blog, where you can comment on the candidates and the races.

Issue: Guns
From Assault Weapons to 'Tort Reform'

The issue of gun control may not be as much in the foreground as in recent elections; in 2000, the NRA is said to have had a significant impact on the Bush victory over Gore in Southern states with the potential to swing voters between parties, including Arkansas and Gore's home state of Tennessee, which Bush won. This year, however, two important gun issues are front and center—the expiration of the ban on assault rifles and the issue of gun manufacturer "tort reform" are part of the debate.

In 2004, the presidential campaigns seem to be competing for who can be quietest on gun control issues. With the exception of the assault weapons ban, neither major candidate has made gun control or gun ownership measures a top-tier issue in their campaign rhetoric.
When the ban on assault weapons lapsed in September, John Kerry called on President Bush to renew the ban, noting that Bush had supported renewal in his 2000 campaign; Kerry took a position counter to the NRA, but then mentioned his support of the Second Amendment saying, "I've been a hunter all my life." He left the campaign trail to vote for reauthorization in the Senate. The "Sportsmen for Kerry" portion of Kerry's Web site details his "Sportsman's Bill of Rights," which includes "the right to own firearms." Bush's site, http://www.georgewbush.com, doesn't have any results for the search "assault weapons ban" and his campaign hasn't released any statements; the White House responded to questions saying he supports reauthorization of the ban, although he hasn't publicly championed reauthorization. Sarah Brady, head of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has publicly criticized Bush.

On his "Sportsmen Team" page, Bush's site says he takes "the position that the Constitution protects a personal, individual right to keep and bear arms." The page also features links to stories and portions of the site that criticize Kerry's position on guns.

Locally, in Mississippi's Second District, Clinton B. LeSueur's Web site states he will "work to enforce existing gun laws" without adding new ones; he has an "A" rating from the NRA. Bennie Thompson has consistently voted in favor of gun control legislation, including voting against measures to limit gun manufacturer liability.

Chip Pickering, running in the Third District, is a huge friend of gun interests, voting repeatedly to decrease gun manufacturers' liability, to decrease waiting periods and even introducing an amendment in 2002 to exempt the gun manufacturers' lobby from campaign finance reform. Pickering's only public opponent, independent Jim Giles, has stated in the past that he would have voted against background checks at gun shows and against increased penalties for crimes committed with guns.
— Todd Stauffer

Issue: Jobs
Minimum Wage, Unions, NAFTA

The presidential candidates' positions on jobs—creating them and protecting them, as well as workers' rights—are dramatically different. President Bush has not raised the minimum wage while in office, despite intense pressure to do so. The last increase came on Sept. 1, 1997. He has supported allowing states to opt out of the federal minimum wage law and backed creation of a sub-minimum wage for some workers. Bush does not support the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows workers to join a union free from employer intimidation.

If elected, John Kerry vows to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7 by 2007. He believes that the card check and neutrality system is the fairest and most equitable way for employees to establish their desire to form a union and for employers to recognize the union and begin negotiations. As a U.S. senator, he supported several Massachusetts unions.

Kerry is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would ensure that when a majority of employees in a workplace decides to form a union, they can do so without the obstacles employers now use to block their free choice.

Bush supports giving $60 billion in tax breaks to companies that lay off American workers and move their operations overseas. Since taking office, each of Bush's federal budget proposals included tax breaks for companies that export jobs overseas. He says exporting jobs is good for America. According to The Economic Report of the President, 2004, "When a good or service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than to provide it domestically."

Bush wants to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement, even though it is controversial on both the left and the right for its role in helping companies (and jobs) leave the U.S. He currently is negotiating a Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement that will expand NAFTA to 34 Central and South American countries as soon as 2005. The proposed agreement does not contain strong worker, environmental or human rights protections.

Kerry is against the outsourcing of jobs. He aims to end tax breaks for companies that send U.S. jobs overseas and create tax incentives to keep good U.S. jobs at home. Kerry says he will make sure that companies that move offshore do not receive government contracts. He originally supported NAFTA, but he now says it has problems (a stance, incidentally, that many on both sides of the aisle have taken as NAFTA's implications became clearer).

Bush supports limiting workers' rights to overtime pay and allowing employers to replace overtime pay with non-paid compensatory time off, which would weaken the 40-hour workweek by allowing employers to schedule more hours for workers without paying extra wages. In 2003, Kerry co-sponsored Senate Amendment 1580 to stop the Bush administration from issuing new regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act that could take away overtime pay rights for millions of workers.

Under Bush, unemployed workers received an additional 13-week extension of their federal unemployment benefits. Kerry believes that unemployment insurance should be reformed to cover more people, to provide sufficient benefits to people between jobs, and help laid-off workers gain the work force training skills that they need to get working again and get ahead. He supports reforms that help workers and has consistently supported efforts to extend benefits to unemployed workers during recessions. In addition, the Kerry-Edwards health plan seeks to ensure that workers between jobs have access to affordable, high-quality health insurance.

Bush signed a Medicare prescription drug bill that, many argue, encourages employers to drop health care coverage for retirees. Kerry supports strengthening the law to discourage employers from dropping retiree health coverage.

As a senator, John Kerry cosponsored the original Family and Medical Leave Act, which has given millions of American workers the chance to take time off for the birth of a child or to care for a sick child or family member. Bush is against the act for small businesses.The U.S. Department of Labor concluded that the Bush administration violated the Family and Medical Leave Act by removing a state employee from his job for requesting time off to care for his sick daughter.
— Casey Parks