WB: Candidates Overview

I've tried to provide as faithfully as possible the highlights of presidential candidate speeches during the course of the Washington Briefing, and hopefully the videos have turned out and are helpful. But one additional word of advice:

Remember that these speeches are what the candidate wants you to hear. They may or may not have said what you want to hear. Going to a candidate's website, reading their literature, listening to these speeches are good, and each of us should do so.

But this is no replacement for digging into the candidate's record. If they are already an elected official, look up their voting record. All are public figures, so Google them and find out what has been reported about them...and weigh what you find from different sources. It boils down to this: they may talk the talk, but do they walk the walk?

For instance, for instance, there are questions about Mitt Romney's "conversion" to a pro-life position.

Also, Huckabee sounded like a true-blue border controller in his speech this weekend, but that does not match what he has said in the past about immigration control. I found that very, very disappointing; at least Giuliani was pretty up front about areas of disagreement.

It's our duty as voting citizens to be informed, find out if they walk the walk, and vote accordingly. A vote, like a gun, is a powerful thing. Make sure you know how to use it wisely and safely before you pull the trigger.