With Election Day 4 days away, here’s my last pitch…

Granted many of us would prefer you vote for the team that has a plan to help our nation through this economic crisis; end the war in Iraq responsibly; refocus our efforts on the true war against terror in Afghanistan while developing an exit strategy so that our brave men and woman in the armed forces can come home safely; and last but certainly not least re-establish our footing in the world as problem solvers — not bullies.

The team I’m referring to of course is that of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

I know a great many of you have still have issues with Barack Obama. To be honest, I do too, but his pluses far out weight his minuses in my book.

We need a President, who like Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 had faith that we could increase the production of planes to 50,000 a year which involved expanding from a little more than 2,000 planes per year to 4,000 per month. Many scoffed at the idea, but Roosevelt knew we were entering the big war and would need the planes in order to secure victory…and we did. In 1961, when the US trailed the Soviet Union in the race to space, President Kennedy boldly stated before a joint session of Congress that we could send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. Many thought Kennedy was just posturing in his never ending game of Cold War chess with the Soviets, but he believe it was possible and set forth an economic plan to achieve this goal. And in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon.

I believe Barack Obama posses the ability to see the big picture and it is for this reason he will be getting my vote come Tuesday.

Because we live in a democracy, when you step into that booth to cast your vote you have every right to vote for any of the 6 major candidates who will be on the ballot in all 50 States. I believe there are some 14 candidates in total running for President of the United States, though many of them are only on the ballot in a select States. Regardless, all any of us can ask is that when you cast your vote, you do so because you believe in the person you are voting for.

Some may find this hard to believe, but I can respect someone who chooses to cast a vote for John McCain because they truly believe he has a better economic plan for America, or your feel his experience is needed at this time in this dangerous world we live in, or just the simple fact that you are a life-long Republican and that’s just how you vote. In this country we have the right to disagree openly and freely. That said, I would find extremly difficult to respect someone who chooses to vote against Barack Obama because you…

* think he is a Muslim who is lying in wait to bring down America because his middle name is Hussein;

*think he was responsible for the late start of the World Series;

These are just a few examples of the ridiculous excuses that people have heard over and over again through sound bites and/or TV commercials and believe them to be true. Never mind the fact each one of these is either a straight lie or has been twisted to the point that it’s so far from the truth, you need a bus just to get back to when the initial lie/untruth begins.

For kicks, let’s take a moment to play twist the facts. In the 1990’s the International Republican Institute distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Center for Palestinian Research and Studies, for which Mr. Khalidi is a founder, to conduct opinion polls in Gaza and the West Bank. John McCain was the Chairman of the Institute at the time the funds were distributed. Does that mean now mean John McCain is a terrorist? Sen. Obama only had dinners with the man. McCain on the other hand is directly responsible for providing funding to a man he and his running mate refer to every chance they get as a terrorist. Knowing that, how can you honestly go and cast vote for John McCain solely based on the fact that you believe Mr. Obama’s association with Mr. Khalidi means he is a terrorist? What could your rationale be other than hypocritical?

This is why you need to be an informed voter. Take the weekend to become informed. Study the issues or at the very least the issues to that matter most to you and your family. Then read up on the proposals put forth by the campaigns to solve these issues.

It’s quite possible once you have reviewed the issues and the answers you may decide to vote John McCain. That’s fine – we can agree to disagree. But at least when asked why, you will be able to give a responsible answer as to why you cast your vote the way you did.

The choice is yours – you can be an informed voter or an ill-advised individual who relies on hearsay to cast your vote.

CJ