Which Will You Choose

What does it mean when a presidential candidate would rather make up stories about their opponent than talk about the issues. I had the opportunity to cover for the Danish people the Democratic and Republican conventions. One was about unity and what we can do to address the serious problems we face. The other was wrapped in the flag. Lots of references to country and open disdain for Europe and remarkably little mention in word or in signs of the party they represent. I'll let you figure out which was which. Barack Obama had muted criticism for John McCain but he also talked about his vision and plan for the country. He talked about policy instead of just acceptance speech rhetoric. His speech fell on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's March On Washington speech. Some in the black community were upset that he did not make a bigger deal out of the magical coincidence. But the night was about him and not Dr. King. I think Dr. King would agree. John McCain's speech was about country and service. His time spent in a Vietnamese prison camp. While a heroic story it did not speak to the millions of Americans losing their homes, our lack of affordable health care. Just a simplistic answer to a complex problem, "drill baby drill". In a "tribute" to the victims of 9/11 the Republicans showed not the way people pull together and helped each other. They didn't honor the dead by showing a plane crashing into one of the towers and what appeared to be a person leaping to their death or the towers crashing to the ground. They used it to scare the public. "If you don't vote for us this will happen again". That is what I took from this "tribute" to 9/11. So we have a choices. What do we want this election to be about. The issues or smear. Pandering or substance. Will we accept a presidential election, in this crucial time, that is about race or the future for you and your children. Which will you choose?