My fellow Americans...

When I was a young girl, I thought America was great. We had those classic history books that make it sound that way, emphasizing our best ideals and values and glossing over as much as possible of our mistakes and weaknesses. As I grew older and learned of the ways we've fallen so short of those ideals, I became disenchanted and cynical. I still loved the ideals, but a false note had been sounded.

George W. Bush embodied the worst of that to me, even before the war. But as his attitudes and policies unfolded, my disbelief and sadness grew. On a practical level, I could not but feel that his actions undermined our interests. Trying to understand other points of view is far more likely to be helpful than bombing first and asking questions later. Giving credence to terrorist claims by providing them ample evidence that we were as they imagined us to be, and failing to recognize how his actions could be perceived if one was not starting with the assumption that "America = the good guys" has been immeasurably harmful.

But there were deeper objections as well. Preemptive strikes? Torture? Erosion of civil liberties? Security at all costs? By undermining the ideals America ought to stand for, Bush has been defeating America more than any terrorist could. He has made us no better than those who would destroy us from the outside. We should rather be killed by terrorists than know that our safety has been purchased at the price of America's soul.

I therefore cannot help but admire Barack's stated desire not just to end the war but to end the mindset that led to the war. To me, practical questions about what to do now that we are embroiled in Iraq are up for debate. But American ideals are not, and changing that mindset is, in the long run, the far more important task. Along with that task comes that of regaining the world's respect. With his multicultural background, Barack is perhaps ideally suited for the great work of communicating with other nations, understanding their values and goals, and thus better equipping us to promote peace, prosperity, and freedom throughout the world (while at the same time, I believe, maintaining a humble recognition that America is neither the world's police force nor its salvation).

His stance on foreign policy is only one example of how Barack represents what is best about this country, and how he presents as stark a contrast to our current President as one can imagine. Tax cuts - the environment - these are issues on which Bush has demonstrated incredible short-sightedness, selfishness, and lack of judgment. I have confidence that as President, Obama would remain faithful to his job of serving the public, and not only today's public, but the public of the future, who will be so tremendously affected by the environmental policies of today.

Furthermore, it is clear that the job of the President has become extremely difficult due to partisan conflict. I believe that Barack has the ability to perhaps overcome this and do some real good, though even at its best, the office cannot and should not fully dictate all the laws and policies of the nation, nor can it be the only means by which positive change happens. But I also feel that, should it be the case that the American political system is so mired in bureaucracy that great progress is an impossible task for any President, we must then ask ourselves, what's left? What can a President offer us?

The best kind of leadership motivates and inspires people to do their part and to be more than they thought they could be. That takes clarity of mind and eloquence; therein, perhaps, lies the greatest gift Obama can offer us. Who can doubt the powerful effect of Churchill's words to his countrymen during the Second World War? And who among us does not get chills when we listen to Dr. King tell us of his dream that his children "will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," and calls us to "let freedom ring!" all across America? Who can fail to be moved by so many of Lincoln's words, or by the founding fathers' bold statement, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal..."? I cannot help but think that if America's ideals are to live on in the future, we must continue to have leaders who will give us powerful words to live by.

In one sense, as pundits have noted, Barack's campaign is about him, his character, and this great eloquence. This is fitting, as the President represents America, both at home and abroad; to a certain extent, we are what he or she is. Barack Obama does, I think, as much as anyone can, stand for and embody the best of America.

But in another sense, what he is telling us is that as President, he would not be "special". He wants us all to recapture those lost childhood ideals. He wants to encourage the cynical and pessimistic among us (including me) to believe that there may be hope after all - that we might not have to choose between our security and our ideals - that we might yet be able to change our country for the better - and that that hope lies in us, not just in our government. He is telling us that we, the people of the United States, do in fact have the power to establish justice, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Is that what is being called an empty hope by his opponents? If this is empty, what is left to us?