My Last Appeal

Election day is just around the corner, and this is my last appeal to friends, some of which praise me for being open minded, but who have a hard time showing the same degree of open mindedness.

We are facing one of the most important presidential elections in U.S. history. It is not just important due to the political, social, economic and security circumstances that we are living, but also because one of the candidates is the front runner not by virtue of what he has demonstrated in the past, but rather because of his exceptional debate and rhetoric persuasion capabilities, allied to a $750 million war chest, an extremely well run marketing campaign, but more importantly, a phenomenal thirst for change by all of us, and a phenomenal thirst of power by the leaders of the Democratic Party.

Yes, we need change. Yes, we need a leader that will take us to the correct direction (notice that I avoided the words "right direction", so that there is no pun intended). But in the process of moving towards this change that we all need, some of us are at risk of making a questionable decision. A decision that is driven not by who the candidate is, but driven by what we want him to be, by what we need him to be. This is the danger of the situation that we are living.

If we remove ourselves from the "want" and the "need", and try to make an objective verification of the facts, I believe we have enough elements to make us concerned about Obama's character. From his sitting at the benches of the Trinity Church for over 20 years, to his remarks to Ali Abunimah: "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front", and going through the overwhelming number of times that he voted "Present" at the legislature, failing to show his true positions. Are we willing to see what he means by "when things calm down I can be more upfront" not just in regard to Israel, but in all other national and international issues?

There are many, many other points that I could raise about his character, but I will mention one gesture that he could have made this past month: having received a record $150 million for his campaign in September, he could easily say "I am taking $100 million and donating to charities". Instead, he bought 30 minutes of network time. Do you really think that those 30 minutes were essential to reassure his potential victory?

This is my last appeal to you: I take pride of the fact that I am independent. Over the course of the years since I became a US citizen, I always voted according to my conscience, and never straight for a party. The same happened during this election, as I have already cast my ballot and voted for both republicans and democrats. Please open your minds as well and try to see the man, beyond of what we "want" and what we "need" him to be. And then, make a decision to vote for someone who may not be the ideal one, who may have his flaws as we all do. But whose agenda is clear and whose character is well known.

I humbly ask you to vote for McCain.