This presidential election is, without a doubt, the most important of our generation. Never in our nation's history has there been an era in which the responsibilities were greater for the United States, and never has a president been called on to meet such extraordinary responsibilities for the homeland and the world.
The Republican incumbent, in my view, has failed miserably and current polling indicates he is by no means a shoe-in. Yet the Democratic Party's top tier candidates are absent from the 2004 nominating elections. Joe Biden, Gary Hart, Hillary Rodham-Clinton, Bill Richardson, Jane Harman...all taking the proverbial powder.
This election is going to be decided on national security issues, homeland security, and the war on terrorism. Voters can tell pollsters that the economy, education, or taxes top their list of important issues, but when Americans head to their polling places on November 2, visions of 9/11 will be on their minds. Mark my words.
As such, the candidate who will eventually go toe-to-toe with President Bush needs to have a fundamental and illuminating perspective on international and foreign affairs, namely in the Middle East; a candidate who understands that we are in the early stages of a Cold War-like struggle in which we want to strengthen the moderate factions - and weaken the religious fanatics - in the Arab-Muslim world.
And so, in the March 2 Democratic primary I will vote for a man whose twice-weekly column in the New York Times gives voice to the new American reality that we now live in a radically changed world; a man whose unique views are exactly what the United States needs to fight this new "cold war."
On March 2, I will cast a write-in vote for Thomas L. Friedman.