Letter: Obama is chance to return to American ideal

Dear Editor:

I’ve written a political letter or two, always about something local, usually school board elections or such. Never have I been so taken by anyone on the national scene to warrant my attention.

However, I was so moved by Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, I felt I had to write a personal letter to my friends as well as to our community as a whole.

He talked about personal responsibility. He talked about decency, compassion and morality. “Treat other people as you wish to be treated.” “Treat those less fortunate than you with compassion.” “Treat those different than you with decency and respect.” “You are your brother (and sister’s) keeper.” “Education, education, education is the great equalizer.” All the things I spent 28 years teaching my children, he spoke of.

And he spoke of them in respect to his family. That is what really hit home for me. His grandfather, his mother, his grandmother – these are his heroes, the people that shaped his life.

And this is the essence of the American dream, which, sucker that I am, I so believe in. The one we learned in grammar school. Each one of us will go farther than our parents. Each one of us will make the world better, just by our existence, and by following these simple rules that our parents have taught us.

I know we’re in the age of cynicism. Many people talk of voting against everyone, rather than for Š anything.

But I think, for maybe the only time in our lifetime, we have a different choice. A choice for the future. A choice for a new world, which is perhaps actually closer to the “old world” than we’ve been in a long time. Hope for the future. Respect for our past.

Please join me in voting for Barack Obama. Let’s just give it four years. It’s our chance to return to the ideal that was America.

Kathy Ball

Heron