. Some quotes below the fold, but I'll tease you with how it ends:
Both presidential candidates are decent men, undeserving of the demonization they've endured during this campaign.
That said, there is a clear choice in this election, and that would be John Kerry for president.
Kerry's record - Vietnam combat vet to anti-war activist to effective U.S. senator - speaks of courage, patriotism and a balanced and thoughtful view of this country, its needs and its role in the world.
It is inescapable, however, that a presidential re-election contest is also a referendum on the incumbent. [. . .]
Again, it's a matter of the Bush record.
The president was marvelous immediately following the 9-11 attack. He rallied the country and called citizens to action in a commitment against terrorism. He led a coalition into Afghanistan, the right war at the right time, to deny al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden their Taliban sanctuary.
And then he took that commitment against terrorism to wage a war against a country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attack. He opposed the creation of a Department of Homeland Security and then didn't. He opposed a 9-11 commission and then didn't. He said he was a uniter and we remain bitterly divided.
The charge that this country will be unsafe if Kerry is president is cruel and on shaky ground. It cynically depends on incomplete glimpses of his 19-year voting record. This is beneath the president, just as raising the specter that Bush will institute a military draft and cut Social Security benefits for the elderly is beneath Kerry. [. . .]
Installing someone during war who has never been commander in chief is too risky, the president's campaign is trying to scare you into believing. But voters can weigh that against what should now be a firm understanding of what they will get in a second Bush term. No risks there. There's every danger of it being worse than the first.
The hatred directed against this president is largely undeserved. The caricatures and barbs hurled carelessly his way have been decidedly mean-spirited. Many will disagree, but we don't believe that he has deliberately misled. He has good instincts on connecting with people and on hopes for elevating students through his No Child Left Behind program (chronically underfunded, unfortunately). We even believe that his faith-based initiative, though it has its faults, indicates a big heart. Faith that guides generously but doesn't dictate to others can be a good thing.
In 2000, we lauded Bush for his ability as Texas governor to work in bipartisan fashion. We admired what seemed to be a tendency to make moderate judicial appointments. We've seen precious little of that in his first term as president.
This time around, there is just so much at stake.
There is an ever-evolving economy that must lift more boats, a health care crisis requiring bold solutions, Iran and North Korea posing global threats, an environment that needs more protection than has been given in this term and Supreme Court nominations that will touch just about every policy issue imaginable.
The president is a decent man, yes. On the whole, however, he has been so wrong about so much in such a short time that accountability must kick in at some point.
We're at that point. John Kerry for president.