An election of great importance

By The Daily Progress

Published: September 11, 2008

I have been voting for more than 40 years, but this is the election of my lifetime. What is at stake are our nation’s honor, the economic survival of our families, and our grandchildren’s quality of life. We must not endure four more years of failed policies, wars with no clear goals or end in sight, rollbacks in policies protecting the environment and consumers, political cronyism in the Department of Justice and in no-bid military contracts, subsidies for oil companies despite their soaring profits, pardons of guilty aides, and defiance of congressional hearings.

The current administration has compromised national security by starting an unnecessary war, leaving us impotent when confronted by other enemies; has degraded America’s international stature by allowing torture, and has promoted a “wild West” culture among financial institutions that has allowed corporate executives to rob their own shareholders and forced the government (us) to step in to rescue them from insolvency.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the team who can lead us back to the proud principles on which this country was founded. They share a commitment to government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Their international life experiences and travel, knowledge of the Constitution and the workings of Congress, mastery of communications, and most of all their integrity are great credentials. Proof of Obama’s leadership are his ability to inspire young and old, and a campaign that has raised record amounts from small donors and guided an enormously successful grass-roots effort to register new voters.

Although Sen. McCain behaved heroically in Vietnam, he has betrayed his word about running a clean campaign by allowing his handlers to circulate distortions about Sen. Obama. He now negates his former independent spirit by flip-flopping on laws that he himself co-authored, and he has prostituted himself to the religious right by choosing Sarah Palin for his running mate.

A vote for Obama and Biden is a vote for restored national honor and a brighter future. Those who mock Obama’s experience as a community organizer will see that he has not simply organized a community, he has organized a nation to believe again: “Yes, we can!”

Sharon Baiocco
Albemarle County