US National Election 2008

The election is here. With all the expectations of so many people on the line, this is like Christmas, Hari Raya and Deepavali all wrapped into one. Wednesday of this week will bring about either a new era of hope, or one of total disbelief and dread for those of us who feel like we have had to suffer 8 years of mediocre leadership--no--bad leadership in America since the year 2000.

As a guy from one of the so-called swing states, Ohio, I'm biting my fingernails in anticipation. Can we voters make a difference?
For many years, something like 20, I didn't think so and I didn't vote. Not since Jimmy Carter was elected. When Reagan was elected in 1980, while I was in Portugal, I couldn't believe it, I doubted that an actor had the skills to lead our nation (and the world), and I decided to stay outside the US as long as possible (for that and other reasons).

Then Bush was elected in 2000, and I knew we were in trouble. Everything I had read about him made me think Americans had lost their better judgement. What followed under his "leadership" confirmed my beliefs, and so when 2004 rolled around, I registered to vote. Alas....

And as we have all seen, Bush has proven to be the worst of the worst: not just mediocre, not just bad, but a disaster, for us, for Iraqis, for most folks worldwide. Proof again of the statement that Churchill allegedly made: The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation on the street with the average citizen.

So why should I have hope now? Have things changed?

With that thought in mind, I went to one of my favorite web sites this morning, salon.com, and found the following article, one calling my rural county in southern Ohio a bellwether of voting within the state of Ohio.

Read the article and see why I still have hope, why we can even imagine....

Overcoming in Ohio

And see you on Wednesday morning, November 5th, 2008!