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I have been a fan of Senator Obama's since Boston, but wondered how such a novice to the political scence would do competing with the very skilled political machine. I am a historian by training and this election has taught me a great deal both about Sen. Obama and about elections. First, about Senator Obama: he's smart, he's nimble and he doesn't make a lot of mistakes. In fact, he learns from his experience. Second, in this highly-charged historic election cycle, the voters are watching and learning very quickly. The Democrats are looking for a winner. Things have changed a lot in the world in the last eight years. Senator Obama has seized upon that change; Senator Clinton appears to have missed it. The dynamic which Sen. McCain is attempting to paint between experience and naivete will not serve him well because turned on its head what Sen. McCain is offering us is what Pres. Bush offered us: the Politics of Fear and Endless War. The election will be about whether we want to mortgage America's future in Iraq or at home, whether we want to target our military engagements where they can help us or where they can ensare us in costly unproductive battles. When John McCain's talks about the "transcendental battle of our lifetime," I hope Americans will seriously ask, when weighing all the challenges that lie before us that we measure where we were as a nation we want to be and if this is indeed the case? The future is going to be a very different place, and Americans should ask are we ready to be a competitive player, and if not, what will have to do to basically keep up. Do we have the resources? To win a war, so that we may leave with "honor" and have our place in the world reduced is not honorable, it is foolhardy.
