Eloquence

In the last three days, I’ve read two very eloquent endorsements of Barack Obama for president of the United States; one from the New York Times, and one from The New Yorker.  What interests me about these posts isn’t that they endorse the candidate I’ve known for months I have to vote for, it is the warmth and depth of the endorsements. I’ve read these kinds of supportive treatises all my life, from the earliest days the words were intelligible to me (roughly, the non-election of Gerald Ford). I have an entire essay to write on this subject, about the rhetorical agility of the words in play, about the brief and measured nod to the problem of the opponent, about the sorrow with which I must concede, as the editors do in their language, in their word choice, the grave distance between the man they (and I) once admired and the candidate who became the product of his political machine.

It is a sad year for me. I have had to divorce myself from the party of my youth, my father, my entire lifetime. I’ve had to look hard at what I believe and value while understanding that my opinion, my party allegiance, my vote, my participation in the process we call democracy influences no one. I not only cannot vote for McCain, I feel compelled to plead with anyone who finds this small but very public message to vote FOR Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for the office of President of the United States of America. 

Please?

Thank you for your support.