Obama: Unity, pragmatism, vision

As I've said repeatedly, Sen. Barack Obama is not a perfect candidate. Even in a well-executed campaign like his, mistakes have been made; and on the issues, there is more than one point on which I disagree with his policy. He won't be a perfect president, either. Candidates for high political office are human beings just like the rest of us.

But a pivotal election like the one coming up on Tuesday isn't a question of who will be perfect as the next commander-in-chief of the United States. It's a question of who represents our best hope for the next four years: Which candidate, despite all of his flaws, is best suited for this critical juncture in American history? Who can best meet our gravest challenges and help heal the wounds this country has suffered over the past eight years? The answer to both questions is clear.

Obama is an exceptional candidate. He recognizes the culture of polarization that has taken root in America and the damage this has caused: red states versus blue states; Republicans versus Democrats; conservatives versus liberals. Throughout his campaign, Obama has tried to transcend these divisions by instituting a tone that invites all Americans to once again come together in shared purpose. His efforts are commendable. They hearken back to the famous words of one Republican president who warned his nation that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Indeed, this hurting nation cannot begin to solve its catalog of problems as long as Americans view each other as adversaries — categorized by fabricated, meaningless, black-and-white labels that facilitate hostility and give us an excuse to dismiss others simply because we disagree with them.

That catalog of problems is daunting, to say the least, and Obama has been consistently straightforward about its depth and gravity: tens of billions spent each month on a war that was started dishonestly and unnecessarily; millions of Americans who can't afford a doctor's visit or a college education for their children; and a tax policy that pads the pockets of millionaires, while working-class families struggle just to pay their bills and keep their homes. Indeed, Obama has identified these challenges with clarity and understanding. But more than that, he has proposed pragmatic solutions that repudiate the status quo and give hope to hurting Americans. Meanwhile, his opponent, Sen. John McCain, does just the opposite — playing on people's base emotions and waging disingenuous attacks about the Illinois senator being a "socialist" and "palling around with terrorists." Character assassination is the hallmark of a campaign that lacks good ideas of its own.

This represents the biggest distinction between Obama and McCain: The former has articulated a clear vision for America and has explained with eloquence why voters should stand with him. The latter, conversely, has waged one attack after another against his opponent, arguing why Americans should not support the Democratic ticket but doing little to convince them why they should support him. Voters deserve to know why their backing of one candidate isn't merely a rejection of the other, and they deserve a candidate who presents a strong, cohesive, positive message, rather than just a series of disconnected, arbitrary attacks against the opponent.

Of course, Obama's candidacy is historic just by virtue of his identity — but his offerings go far beyond that. If voters should choose to elect him as the next president of the United States on Tuesday, I'm confident that the next four years will represent a very positive departure from the past eight in American history.