Teddy for President

I spied the following blurb from the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) in my inbox yesterday morning:

When it comes to making national parks a national priority, Teddy Mather is up to the task. Teddy cares about our national parks and their future, and he’s not afraid to say so. How do the other candidates measure up to Teddy’s platform?

Teddy is running for president because virtually no other candidate is making national parks a national priority. And unfortunately when many of them have mentioned parks, it hasn’t been the kind of thing we want to hear from presidential hopefuls. We know national parks are an important part of our heritage, and we need ALL candidates – not just Teddy – to speak up on their behalf.

Who is Teddy, you ask? This winehiker thinks Teddy is a little too cute n’ fuzzy to have realistic hopes of being President, or even to enjoy the legendary status of his cousin, Smokey Bear. And so we turn to another NPCA site, electteddy.org, to find out more about Teddy:

He may be just a humble bear, but Teddy Mather is making his campaign about our national parks, and the plants, the animals, and the historic buildings in them. Our national parks protect some of America’s most significant landmarks and landscapes. They tell our nation’s stories. Yet they suffer from a lack of funding and critical protection.

Our National Park System, called the best idea America ever had, will celebrate its centennial in 2016, another presidential election year. If a president is going to restore America’s National Park System in time for the centennial, we need to begin the work now.

Teddy is the bear for the job. Help elect Teddy Mather, and help protect our national heritage.

I suppose a Teddy Bear running for president is no less silly than the notions of some the current presidential wannabes (or those of the current incumbent). But sometimes outrageous silliness such as Teddy Mather’s presidential bid gets noticed, raises issues, starts a dialog. So if you feel our national parks deserve more a little more of the campaign limelight, get with the dialog yourself. The NPCA offers an online petition that’ll help share your voice.

~winehiker

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 8:07 am and is filed under grape squeezins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.