Ciao

I expect this to be my last posting of the 2008 election cycle. There are two principal reasons for this decision. The first is quite selfish; turning out a posting every day is very difficult as I do my own research and try, while strongly supporting Obama, to be fair to the opposition, and it is not easy without a copy editor to catch my errors. I also think that I’ve made as much impact as possible on readers; everyone on the list – and I hope those to whom it has been forwarded and those who stumbled onto the site - can’t help but be clear that I support Obama and why.

My other reason for ceasing is that Virginia is a battleground state, among the closest of these. Therefore, I’m going to spend as much time and energy as possible in making telephone calls around the Commonwealth in support of Barack Obama, Mark Warner – the Democratic party candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia - and the various Democrats running for House seats in the jurisdictions that I call.

I think that personal contact can make huge difference in whether voters turn out on Election Day, so on a cost benefit basis, I think I can do more good for Obama by making these calls in Virginia than by preaching to the choir on my blog. I know that there are McCain supporters who can’t wait for the daily post and that I was close to converting most of them to Barack’s camp, but with daily time to ponder what I’ve said over the past six or eight weeks, they’ll finally see the light and vote the correct way anyway.

I’m convinced that this is the most important election since 1932. The country is facing economic and political problems unprecedented in my adult lifetime, and this will be the third epochal change that I have lived through. The first was the New Deal, Fair Deal and Great Society periods that culminated with the great legislative achievements of Lyndon Johnson that transformed America but unfortunately ended with the Vietnam War.

The second great change was the conservative whirlwind led by such folks as Barry Goldwater and Newt Gingrich but most exemplified by Ronald Reagan. It had a run of more than thirty years and did much good in its early days. Sadly, it ended in hubristic overreach during the last eight years leading up to the election to be held twelve days hence.

The election of Barack Obama will represent not only an epochal change in policy direction but a new day for America. A black American will be the first leader of this generation long shift coming, but he will be followed by women and perhaps representatives of other racial and ethnic groups. Of course white men will preside again, but they will be elected by a very diverse and different pool of voters than those we’ve known.

America will soon be restored to prosperity and to an honored place among the nations of the world. It will be great just like always – but different.


Now it can be told: ****, the one who really goofed it is George W. Bush who, thank goodness, has only 89 days let to serve in the White House. And ^^^^ ^^^^^^ the guy who guided **** down the garden path is - I'll bet you guessed it - Darth Vader - I'm sorry, Dick Cheney.

I hope I’m around for the next election cycle as this is really fun for me.

And I ain’t b.s n’ ya.