I think Rod's got it right. I am not willing to give up any of my
rights, especially the right to keep and bear arms. While 'W'
nominally holds the same positions as Kerry (pro-Assault Weapons Ban,
supports closing the 'gun-show loophole,' etc.,) he knows where his
bread is buttered, and is not pushing those issues. But that is not
the only thing I'm worried about.

Gun rights are important to me, but so are:
The Right to vote
Free speech
Freedom of the press
Freedom of assembly
freedom from unlawful search and seizure
The right to due process
The right to a speedy trial
Seperation of Church and State
Equal protection under the law
The right to privacy
Right of habius corpus

I can name an instance where the Bush-Ashcroft administration is
violating, or has tried to violate each of these rights and freedoms.

Add to that a horrid economic record, a foreign policy that has left
us isolated in the world when we most need to be engaged... the list
goes on and on.

Here are a couple a couple of items in the news recently that make it
impossible for me to vote for Bush:

The FBI approached members the American Friends Service Committee, a
Quaker public service group that once won the Nobel Peace Prize, and
questioned them about terrorist plans for the Republican National
Convention. They asked them if they were planning any unlawful
activities, or if they knew of anyone planning unlawful activities.
They told them if they knew and didn't say anything, they were
breaking the law and would be arrested. This is just so rememnecent
of "Are you now, or have you ever been, a communist."
see http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3855705
and
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3066739
,00.html
or google-news quaker and fbi

The other is the whole swift boat thing. Bush won't renounce an
obviously dishonest and dishonorable ad. When asked to, he
replies, 'we should get rid of all those types of ads.' (I have to
paraphrase, because Google is acting up.) Great, so instead of
showing leadership or taking some responsibility, he wants to quash
everyone else's right to free speech.