Iím not going to make any political endorsements. Itís too late for that, besides which I donít know anymore than the next person.
But I hope people arenít voting out of fear. That may seem preposterous, and an unnecessary request. But so much of our politics is based on fear, and itís wrong.
It came out in full after 9/11, and it has been a trademark of the Bush administration.
Many candidates have picked up on it. One grim-voiced radio ad I heard had the slogan: ìVote as if your life depends on it. [Insert ominous pause here.] Because it does.î
Pardon me, but it doesnít.
We should elect people based on their vision, their skills, their experience, their integrity. Their dreams, not their nightmares. Heck, vote on your gut feeling ñ thatís always my best bet.
When I get the fancy flyers that warn about bad things that could happen, from terrorism to partial birth abortions, from welfare queens to illegal immigrants taking over the country, it finds the waste basket in a hurry, after a few choice words, of course.
We live in fearful times, yes. The War in Iraq is on everybodyís mind, and rightfully so. Itís an ugly, no-win quagmire.
But is it more serious than the Cold War, when we were one red button away from a nuclear holocaust? The Cold War brought out a serious fear monger in Joseph McCarthy. He survived on fear. I think we can all agree that that was a horrible period of our history.
How about World War II? Hard to beat old Hitler and what he was doing and what he did. But was Glen Jostad fighting a war based on fear when he got shot down over Germany and spent 15 months in a POW Camp? I think I know that answer to that. I think his efforts were based on a desire to make things right, to do the right thing.
The Great Depression ñ canít get much scarier than that for our country. Yet when FDR gave his first inaugural address in 1933, he said, ìSo, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.î Those are words to live by.
Times have changed. Todayís political slogan could read, ìWe have nothing to fear except the lack of fear.î Thatís what many politicians are banking on.
None of us remember the Civil War, but to me that was the ultimate test of our country. It defined a great leader, Abraham Lincoln. He ruled on strength and wisdom. He defined things in simple terms: ìA house divided against itself cannot stand.î People fought and died to preserve that. Out of fear? No, out of a desire to remain whole, united, as one.
Also, Lincoln surrounded himself with people of dissenting opinions. He wasnít afraid of criticism. When things didnít work during the Civil War, he made changes. What a contrast to our president today, who has the longest running Secretary of Defense in U.S. history presiding over a war that is definitely not working.
The list could go on and on, so Iíll stop.
I hope people keep a positive attitude when they vote next Tuesday, and that they vote for someone who promotes hope and not fear.

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