... Because whoever wins will be in a world of hurt come January 2009.
Let's see.
On inagauration day, one of our own will take full and utter responsibility for getting us out of one hell of a mess in Iraq (and let's hope it's still only Iraq by then). That's not just getting our troops safely home. It's also leaving a situation behind that will not devolve into utter chaos, ethnic cleansing, or Talibanesque radical rule. They'll have to do it with partisans, pundits, and constituents breathing down their necks. They'll have to do it with History breathing down their necks. And they will have to question themselves over every life lost in the process: how much are they responsible for it?
And then...
We all see the mortgage meltdown in process now. Chances are, we will be mired in recession by inagauration day. Somebody will have to navigate a path for us to get back on our economic feet, and they'll have a treasury maxed out to foreign creditors to work with.
With our overburdened treasury, someone will have to find a way to fix our broken health-care system. And even if they make progress many of us won't be satisfied with the results. At the same time, many of our opponents will scream foul at every new cent of tax imposed on an economy already suffering from the weight of the last 8 years of mismanagement. They will obstruct.
The climate crisis will be exacerbated by yet another year of reckless greenhouse emissions. The clock will be ticking, and someone will be faced with the responsibility of turning the Queen Mary around in this mud puddle before it ticks out. Chances are, there will be only a few grains of sand left in that hour-glass by 2013.
Then there are education problems, other environmental problems, trade problems, new crises overseas, and a host of other burdens.
Who would you put these burdens onto? Certainly not someone you like!
But, that's what we're going to have to do. We are going to have to choose our favorite candidate, and put them into the bed George Bush slept in... and let them sleep there by night and shovel out the defecation from it by day.
But, it isn't just going to be that one person. Because each and every one of us has a voice, and each and every one of us is capable of taking action. We're all in the bed George Bush slept in. We all have to shovel. We all share the burdens.
Here's to the hope that we will wake up one morning - years or decades from now - and find our work has paid off. Here's to the hope that we will be able to look back proudly on the accomplishments of the leader we chose and on our own accomplishments. Here's to the hope that the next generations will thank us, rather than condemn us.