My little bit

For all the b.s. that accompanies them, I have always liked presidential elections in the U.S. That's probably because I am not affiliated with any political party. Watching the candidates compete as they do, and more importantly, watching their repective strategies unfold is infinately engrossing. If you can take a step back and watch the campaigns with a disinterested eye toward the eventual outcome, you can see a drama of epic proportions, because the story is not merely about the candidates themselves, or even the parties they represent, but the entirety of the country.

Watch the news or read the papers as I do. Everyone gets in on the action. Everyone has their own bit to play. Everyone feels that something important is at stake. Everyone feels a certain weight in knowing that the outcome of this fight matters in a way that few others can compete with. In other words, everyone feels a deep relevance in what is transpiring.

Each candidate will lead the country in a different direction. Each candidate has different ideas for how best to proceed in the country's affairs. Each candidate loves his/her country and is committed to its prosperity. Some ideas work in practice better than others, but I truly think that the ideas themselves come with the noblest of intentions.

Call me naive if you will, but I genuinely want to believe in our leaders, even when they do make mistakes.

This year, the main candidates running for president are of course Barak Obama and John McCain. Each has gone through a very trying nominating process and emerged victorious even though the obstacles in front of them were truly daunting. McCain supported a wildly unpopular war and did not really appeal to the social conservative wing of his party. Obama was vitually unknown and faced in Hillary an opposition with enormous organization and connections within the party. Yet they both prevailed, and have become the stronger for it.

Both of them have unique histories that resound to me as an American. Both of them are patriots and strong Americans. Both of them would make fine presidents in my estimation.

It may not always be so, but at least this particular election cycle, I sleep in peace at night knowing that whichever way the presidential election goes, the country will be in good hands. Rest easy, America. This year, we can't lose.