I am writing because it is so important that we pick the right leader this election, one who can end an era of distrust and deception and effectively lead our nation as one, into the next great era of our American story.
Since I was a child, my teachers, my family and my country have told me the tale of the great United States, this powerful, majestic entity built on hopes and powered by dreams. I remember the feeling of awe and inspiration I had in my heart whenever one would discuss the concept of America. Little did I know that as I was to grow older, I would discover that what I had learned was more a mythic ideation of the truth.
While much of what we feel when we think of the majesty of the United States is valid and beautiful, it is in a sense a small part of the big picture. This wonderful vision used as smoke and mirrors to distract us from the man behind the curtain.
I am 26 years old, and with the exception of Ronald Reagan, I have lived in a country run by Bushes and Clintons, none of them facilitating this vision of the America I once envisioned as a child, the great and infallible United States. What I found was a business with businessmen helping other businessmen.
The people of this country were treated as though they were silly little things, annoying insects in the ear of financial gain, quick fixes and legacies built on scandal and shame. That is what I saw and America began to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. That is until 2007 when I came to know Barack Obama. Since deciding to support Barack Obama, I have been putting in hundreds of hours writing to people telling them about Barack Obama, writing letters to the editor of all the major papers in the states about to hold elections, donating hundreds of my own dollars, which I could not afford to part with because I knew that I could afford no other president but him.
Barack Obama has the most to offer the people of this nation. More than any other candidate, he knows what the people need and is willing to fight for it. He is going to bring the people of this nation back together and out from behind the partisan front lines, allowing us to see our neighbors once again as the "Johnsons" and not as the Republicans or Democrats next door. He will bring the people of my generation the biggest change in Washington in our lifetime: a new name to the White House and a fresh slate for our expectations. We don't need another presidency burdened (or encouraged) by its past, whatever version of it they try to pass off on us as truth.
Barack Obama is the America that America always promised to be. Please cast your vote for Barack Obama.
Joshua Bartman
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editor's Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limit as stated in our letter's policy.
