Letter to the Editor

This was published in the Chicago Tribune this Sunday, written by my friend from college, Meredith Geller.

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (LETTER)

Kerry makes hope return to a tired American

Meredith Geller
Published October 3, 2004

Rock Falls, Ill. -- I'll admit it: I'm a tired American.

I'm tired of turning on the television and seeing headlines about dead American soldiers.

I'm tired of reading about jobs being outsourced to India and China.

I'm tired of watching the American manufacturing industry dwindle and wondering how we can be a world power if we don't produce anything.

Most of all, I'm tired of feeling like nothing will change.

So given my utter exhaustion with the situation in America today, I watched the debate on Thursday with a bit of trepidation. I have long been a supporter of John Kerry as an "anyone but Bush" candidate, but he tends to speak in long, hard-to-understand sentences, which blur his message.

On Thursday, however, John Kerry showed us the strong, capable president he will be. He was concise, he was prepared and he was able to express the frustration that I and so many others feel about the current administration. He knew his facts and repeatedly used them. He reminded the American people that it was not Iraq that attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001; it was Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

In fact, even when discussing the Afghan terror mastermind, Kerry reminded us of the bigger problems the American people face, noting that when bin Laden was surrounded, President Bush did not rely on the talents of the American Army but instead relied on Afghan warlords to capture bin Laden and "outsourced" that job too.

As a result, bin Laden escaped.

But even more surprising than Kerry's ability to remind America what's at stake was the vision of America that Kerry was able to express--a stronger, better, more respected America. He could explain his plan and, most of all, made it clear that as president he could truly be the uniter that America needs right now. He was hopeful and positive about what we can do in the future.

I realized that it was hope that I was missing--hope that things not only can but will be better. And for the first time in this election, I was able to see the strong, determined and formidable president that John Kerry will be.

I am no longer a tired American. I am a hopeful one.