It’s not just that the presidential choices for 2008 are more diverse than ever before, it’s that the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been in most Americans’ lifetimes. With global warming, an energy crisis and bio-terrorism looming over our heads, we’re talking about our very survival as a species. The nuclear Armageddon fears of the past—whether the Russians or North Koreans will get jacked up enough to start World War III—pale in comparison to whether humans can survive a planetary climate or pole shift. We’re talking about things that may be beyond our control to change or reverse. Now is the time for unity, not division. The whole system needs to change if we’re going to make it, as a country AND as citizens of the world. We want someone to show us the way, not the old way, not the same way, but a new way.
Is there such a person? Of course there is, and likely more than one. But you won’t be able to discern who if you don’t even know the line-up. And you won’t be able to chose your future if you don’t get in the game. The time is long overdue to break from a re-run of the past. In evaluating who can lead America to a new future, don’t just vote for the new faces you haven’t seen in the race before. Don’t let gender, color, religions, looks or age distract you from the substance or lack thereof underneath. Search for courage, search for independence, search for the candidates willing to cross party lines to do what’s right. Search for rules being broken because they need to be. Know the issues and judge your candidates on where they stand. And vote your conscience; vote your heart, not simply your party affiliation. But most of all, vote! Vote this time around especially in the primaries as well as the general election. After all, 2008 may well be the election of your life.
