I have never been this moved by a political candidate since RFK. Those who are too young to remember the kind of character and leadership qualities exhibited by both Bobby and John F. Kennedy, and those of Martin Luther King, perhaps cannot fully appreciate what we had, and then had so brutally taken away from us. Still, the younger people being drawn to Obama know there is something special, something quite different about this man that makes them feel hopeful for the future.

His judgment is often cited, and yet played down as if it were hardly a value at all. His judgment on the war cannot be overstated. He expressed his opposition vehemently at a time when doing so was politically risky, and called the result to a tee. Many who are now running for president took the politically safe route, to the detriment of our country and the world. This is no small matter, and one should question how any of them could be trusted to do the right thing as opposed to the politically expedient thing in the future. Sound judgment is what separates the great leaders of our history, like JFK and Lincoln, from the mediocre and sadly destructive ones. Unlike other candidates, he has forcefully spoken out against this war consistently from the beginning. If his plan had passed, withdrawal of our troops in Iraq would have begun in May, and we'd be well into it by now.

Experience has somehow trumped sound judgment in the current political mantra. And yet, though young in years as presidential candidates go, he has been a public servant for over two decades - as a community organizer, a civil rights lawyer, a constitutional law professor, a state Senator, and a U.S. Senator. Obama has had 10+ years of legislative experience which has resulted in substantial bills passed in areas of health care, poverty, crime, civil rights, ethics, and immigration in the Illinois Senate alone. In his two and a half years in the U.S. Senate, he has been a leader on matters of energy and the environment, introducing or cosponsoring nearly 100 eco-related bills on issues ranging from lead poisoning and mercury emissions to auto fuel economy and biofuels promotion, earning him a notable 96 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters. He has already shown his capacity to reach across the aisle and pass bills on matters of government transparency and national security. On health care, education, employment, trade, poverty, ethics and equal rights and opportunities for all people, he has shown bold leadership.

Many try to say he lacks foreign policy experience, and yet many foreign policy experts have spoken eloquently of his wisdom in this area. Senator Obama graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science with an emphasis on international relations. He is unique among Senators, serving on three of the four Senate Committees dealing with foreign policy issues including the Foreign Relations; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs committees and is the Chair of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Relations which is responsible fore U.S. relations with European countries, the European Union, and NATO. His foreign policy position, given in great detail in his speech, 'The War We Need to Win', is not only intelligent and comprehensive, but illustrates an amazing comprehension of the complexities of the world we live in, and solutions that address the very roots of those problems.

His capacity for bridging seemingly unreconcilable differences has been legendary as far back as his school days. In a country and a world so deeply divided as ours due to the actions of the present administration, this is no small matter. To be clear, this does not make him a panderer or push-over. His positions are clear and consistent, often speaking truths that not everyone wants to hear, but his willingness to listen to all sides and respect them engenders a trust and an opportunity for dialogue that results in the common good for all.

Above all, he is a rarity in politics in that he is authentic. He is exactly who you will get, and the more you take the time to get to know who he is, the more you realize he is a once in a generation chance to finally get this country back on track to realizing the ideals our founders intended for our country.

See Eons Group: Barack Obama Supporters

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