EDITORIAL - About a month ago (Nov. 3), CNN aired a Democratic "debate" it deemed "America Rocks the Vote." It was a vain attempt to connect with college-aged voters and deal with issues that the 18 to 25-year-olds care about.

For me, a college student, the only thing these jokers did was make me cheer at the increasing possibility of President Bush winning in 2004 and I pray that the students asking the questions do not represent the intelligence level of the rest of my age group. One of the audience members asked which the candidates preferred: Mac or PC. Another asked Sen. John Kerry if he would have taken out a tiring pitcher in a Boston Red Sox game, while another asked which one of the candidates would the others like to "party" with.

Not surprisingly, other issues brought up included marijuana use, "gay rights", the Iraq war, the economy and the Patriot Act. What was surprising was that Sen. John Edwards from North Carolina, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and John Kerry admitted to using marijuana, while Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio denied using it but pledged to decriminalize its use.

Much of the first part of the debate dealt with a comment made by Dean about his wanting to be the candidate for "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks." Dean never claimed to be wrong in making the statement, though he did try to clarify it by saying he was referring to the poor white southerners who have voted Republican for years and received nothing for it. This did not sit well with Rev. Al Sharpton, the sole black man running for office who said, reciting a quote Dean had used earlier, "Martin Luther King said, 'Come to the table of brotherhood.' You cannot bring a Confederate flag to the table of brotherhood."

Also included in the program were 30-second campaign videos from each candidate. The majority of them held no substance and were instead flashing images of the candidate's campaigning set to either rap or techno music, showing how incredibly out of touch the candidates really are with my generation. All the candidates proved they were neither hip, nor cool. They instead showed they think of our generation as a mindless mass of hormones driven by bright lights and loud music.

Throughout their campaigns, each candidate has done something to reinforce the hope I have for a Bush-Cheney victory in 2004.

It started with retired Gen. Wesley Clark and his inability to pick a stance on Iraq. First he is all for it, then he is not sure and now he is opposed to it and claims to have never supported it.

Dean has stuck his foot in his mouth so many times that I have lost count, but my guess would be he is beginning to like the taste of leather. Aside from his high blood pressure and apparent anger at everything, Dean appears to be too liberal for America. Besides, who really wants to say one is a part of "Generation Dean." That is his lame campaign slogan to get college age students to vote for him.

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has run for president and vice president before and still has no personality. He has some ideas, but it is unlikely he will win. Plus, Al Gore (former running mate) does not support him for the high office. I do not know if that will hurt or help in the long run. We will just have to wait and see.

Rev. Al Sharpton is too hellfire and brimstone for most people and his appearance on Saturday Night Live did not help him too much.

John Kerry looks like he does not know what the heck is going on. About the only thing the public knows about him is that he would have pulled out that tired pitcher and he served in Vietnam. Not to mention he was the second interview on Jay Leno, after Triumph the Insult Comic Dog puppet a few weeks ago. Oh yeah, he also said that Triumph would make a good vice president because he would like to see "him [the dog] debate Dick Cheney". Perhaps it is Leno's policy not to promote politics, but nonetheless Kerry could have planned for a better night. John, go back to the mini-bar with Teddy.

Kucinich is an interesting case because it appears the only thing he cares about is getting us out of Iraq. All he has got is his catch phrase: "Get the U.N. in and the U.S. out." but no substantial plan. He did come across strong when he started talking about his fiscal policy, but overall Kucinich is going to have trouble convincing people he isn't just running because he has that short-man's syndrome. (Remember that Perot had the big ears syndrome.)

Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri did not as much as attend the event, which says to me he does not care about what young voters think about his candidacy. However, he did get on Leno and was the second interview. Always having the Democrat candidate on second does not look good for the 18 percent of my generation that cares what is going on, or who actually watch Leno.

Edwards is from the South and has that deep accent to go along with it. He worked his way out of a poor lumber mill-supported family to make a great deal of money as a trial lawyer (do not get me started on trial lawyers). He is smart, personable and attractive to the ladies. But again, nobody really knows what he stands for. Out of all the candidates, Edwards seems like he has it together. He needs to work hard to get his name out there for the primaries, but if anyone has a chance to win the nomination, it is him. I will discuss Hillary Clinton and her speculated plans in a future column.

Overall, CNN's attempt to get Generation Y to care was a valiant effort, but with candidates like these, it gives me peace of mind to think that as long as one of these morons gains the nomination, Bush stands a very good chance of winning.