US Presidential Candidates Spend a `Hot Labor Day `

Both Republican and Democrat candidates for the upcoming 2004 Presidential election started their campaign with Labor Day on Sep.1.

The election is scheduled for 14 months later (on Nov. 2. 2004) but traditionally, Labor Day begins final lab in the race.

President George W Bush, the candidate of the ruling Republican Party, went straight to Richfield in Ohio from his one month of summer vacation, and participated at the Labor Day event of the International Union of Operating Engineers. It was to forestall other candidates by stressing economic issues, which will rise as the most critical issue in the upcoming election.

President Bush said he will put all the efforts for economic recovery through job creation and economic stimulation, and praised the participants to the event saying, “The US has the best workforce in the world.”

He said “I will work to support those who already have jobs to secure the job and those who are looking for a job to find one.” He pledged to resolve unemployment that now reaches up to 6.2% and to create jobs for 9million.

President Bush also focused on wide range of campaign related issues, such as comprehensive law on energy and anti-terrorism campaign. In the next year`s Presidential election, other issues such as the legitimacy of the US-Iraq war and whether to continue the war are also expected to arise as contentious issues.

The Democratic Party is having even more busy time, with no candidate decided yet.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, Representative Dick Gephardt, the former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean and others running for the Democratic Party`s Presidential candidate set out on a stump tour in Iowa and New Hampshire on that day, criticizing President Bush`s various policies. These places are where the preliminary election will be held in January, prior to other regions.

Senator John F. Kerry met voters in South Carolina on Sep.2, before officially announcing that he is running for the office. Senator Kerry plans to start a TV promotion campaign from Sep.2 across the entire nation.

Democratic Party candidates focused their criticisms on economic policy and labor policy of the Bush administration, signaling that economics will be the most contentious issue in the upcoming election.

Currently, Lieberman ranks first in the nationwide approval ratings of Democrat candidates, and Gephardt and Dean jointly ranked second, followed by Kerry.

With 5 months up to the preliminary election, Dean maintains the top ranking in New Hampshire, where the general trend of the election can be forecasted. Yet, as candidates are planning to starts full-fledged campaigns with TV promotion campaign and so on, it is expected that there will be some changes to the rating.

However, Democrat candidates are showing weakness these days, as 65% of voters could not remember the name of a single candidate from Democratic Party, according to a recent opinion poll. There are constantly some rumors of Senator Hillary Clinton running for the election. Thus, for some time, Democratic Party is not likely to have a `clear winner` for its preliminary election.

maypole@donga.com