In keeping with our coverage of the coverage, I've been debating covering the live debates between fake candidates on "The West Wing" tonight. I am, however, waiting to see if either fake candidate mentions homeless people at all tonight. I think it was shameful that in 2004 we devoted so much time to Swift Boating and useless controversies like gay marriage and spent so little time discussing the substantive issues which face our country. John Edwards seemed to be the only major party candidate to realize that there is a social divide in America between those who don't have to worry about procuring basic human necessities like food, shelter, health care, etc. and those who struggle every day to meet these demands.

Vice-Presidential candidate Pat LaMarche of the Green Party (see interview in Issue 68 of The Homeless Grapevine) actually put her money where her mouth was last year and conducted a tour of homeless shelters across America before the Vice-Presidential debates here in Cleveland. She wasn't able to stay in the Community Women's Shelter here in Cleveland, but she stayed with an individual who was formerly homeless.

The fake candidates tonight will probably not address the biggest controversy of our times because it hasn't happened in their world: the Iraq war. They may make passing references to spending large sums of money abroad while our own people go hungry, but I doubt it. It is my hope that these fake candidates will still spend time talking about our country's real issues, since our own leaders are still avoiding them.

Kevin
Operations Manager

(These comments about fake and real people are my own views and do not represent the views of The Homeless Grapevine)