One Week to Go

Is this the most important week of our lives?

Oh behave, Mr. Hyperbole!

Surely, the presidential election will determine an awful lot in our country, but does it really compare with:

• The week you got married (for the first, second or third time)?
• The week your child was born?
• The week your parent or spouse passed away?
• The week you lost your virginity? (I suppose I should have put this with the first bullet since we were all virgins when we got married, right?)
• The week you got baptized, confirmed, bar mitzvah'd, or consecrated by Mother Nature.

A little perspective is required. But that said, this election is extraordinarily important.

So was the 2000 election, but we just didn't know how important that was. If American knew 9/11 was going to happen, would we have elected a governor from Texas with no foreign policy experience and a reputation for not taking life too seriously. No way! Gore would have won in a landslide. Who knows how things would have turned out but you can be sure we wouldn't have lost more than 1,000 Americans in Iraq nor would have we run up a $500 billion deficit. People's First Amendment rights would be intact.

And we'd probably be in the midst of a Gore vs. McCain election. Imagine how much more civil and constructive that campaign would be.

Down the home stretch, let's all keep our perspective but not let up in our drive to get Kerry supporters to the polls.