Fences...........And A Matter Of Being On Them !!

I would like to think that I am a relatively smart guy and that I can handle a good portion of what is thrown my way (except math) and let me add that I have the best friends....they give me great solid advice. I listen to what is said ,take it in ,process the advice and then try to form opinions on my own.

Having said all that here goes my thoughts on presidential politics today....

For the past couple of months I had tried to decide between Democratic hopefuls who were running for the presidency. I had narrowed my decision down to John Edwards and Hillary Clinton and had finally made the leap and placed my feet firmly on the side of Hillary.

I made the comment at the time that I had decided to come off the fence and make a decision.

I was comfortable in my decision and had already started making plans to campaign for Sen. Clinton. She is smart, articulate, well connected, has a brillant husband who has a little knowledge about running the last superpower on the planet. I think she is highly qualified to be President of the United States. George Bush had been Gov of Texas for less than 8 years when he decided to run for the White House.....but I digress.

Then two things happened.....Sen Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy came out in support of Sen Obama and I read Lukes blog.

I have always had a love affair with the "Camelot" era known as the early 1960's and while some of my friends would have you believe that I actually watched the Kennedy/Nixon debates in 1960 , it was a little before my time.

President Kennedy instilled in us a sense of wonder that flowed over into everything people did.... For the first time in a long time this nation had a leader that made them want new and better things. I remember my Dad talking about watching President Kennedy take his oath of office that cold January day and my dad having the feeling that we could go anywhere with Kennedy leading us. Some historians have said that the ideal, all is gonna be great, era of the 1950s did not actually end until around 1pm on November 22,1963.

President Kennedy had his faults....but show me a man (or women) who does not and I will show you some ocean front property in North Dakota.

Sen Obama does the same thing.....He excites people on a level that I have not seen since 1992 when Bill Clinton ran for the office. I did vote in that election and in fact it was my first.....

I hate to say this cause it paints me as kinda dense but I never put much thought into the idea of 24 YEARS of either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House. Hillary has won nothing yet....but the idea of getting a job because you have a certain name is kinda bad. I will say it again---SHE IS SMART but so is Obama . President Roosevelt ran for and was elected to be president 4 times. Some would say two too many ....I am a HUGE fan of FDR and I think that he ran one too many times.....there should be some type of limits on how many times people can be in the Oval Office as our Commander in Chief...Oh wait there is !! Perhaps the Bush and Clinton Families have finally figured out the loophole.

These are the things people have said to me over the last week concerning a black man being elected president.

• Once a muslim always a muslim.


• I am worried that someone might take a shot at him...try to kill him.


• Can you imagine the country we will live in once a darky is elected .


• He has absolutly no experiance.

Sen Obama can lead, I have no doubt about it.....the fact that he is a black man does not concern me in the slightest bit,even if he was a muslim should that matter? Show me in the US Constitutuion where it says " Hey , remember ya gotta be white, own land and attend a protestant church to be president" Some fool might decide to try and kill him for no other reason than he is black ....I am sure Sen Obama has given this some serious thought, has discussed it with his family and they know the risks. Perhaps serving his country is something that warrents those risks in his eyes....He is the first black man to run for president and not make race an issue . He knows it is a very divisive measure and helps no one in the long run. Run on your merits and the rest will take care of itself.

So....back to those fences........

Come November 4, 2008 we will have a new person elected to lead this nation. The president -elect will have some serious uphill battles to contend with...getting more people to work, helping push a lagging economy into first gear, Ending a war in Iraq, affordable heath care for EVERYONE ,restoring our reputation around the world, getting the US to play a bigger role in helping enviromental issues, equal rights for every person in the US,including gays,latinos,immigrants,blacks....You see my point.

Who should I vote for??

Guess I will know Tuesday