The Larry Kane Report

Driving through the heavy traffic of the last few weeks, watching shoppers go to and fro, and seeing the mostly cheerful demeanor of people in the midst of it, I couldn’t help but think about where our value system is and isn’t during this special time of the year.

I generally don’t preach values, but as the holiday season becomes prelude to a fast-paced Presidential campaign, I think that it very interesting that most individual Americans have a finer value system, a sense of what is right and wrong, than the majority of our Presidential candidates.

Most Americans change their minds, but not as often as this pack of candidates. They believe that giving is much better than receiving, yet some of our candidates view our nation, as one candidate recently described it, as a “nanny state.” Most of our citizens would like to see the less fortunate is better shape than they are. Although they know that government can do the entire job, they believe that individuals can make a difference in other people’s lives.

The candidates generally are divisive with each other. And their is a difference, by the way, between going on the attack, and playing dirty tricks. How many times will the Clinton forces casually mention Obama’s early drug use, and how many times will Clinton’s opponents refer to the scandals of her husband’s Presidency. The Huckabee campaign plays it positive by embracing religion, even at a time when most Americans say they hope religion stays out of politics. New York Rudy wants to look tougher on immigrants, even with his record of governing the City of New York’s massive immigrant population. Mitt Romney has so many dimensions of thought that the voters, attracted to him, beg for clarity. Maybe all this vague and changeable politics makes John McCain suddenly attractive, and Barack Obama a surging candidate.

The other candidates, including Hillary Clinton, and especially Hillary Clinton, should be viewed as serious Presidential material. Joe Biden has all the strength of character to do the job.

But, it’s my perspective at this apex of the holiday season, that personal values and convictions are more important to the mass of Americans than anything else, even more important, in some cases, than issues.

Maybe that is why many voters are bewildered, confused and concerned, because the candidates don’t seem to measure up to their own standards. Do all the candidates really represent the core values of Americans?

That question is why Michael Bloomberg may be getting ready to make a run for it.

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