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[jmroll AT bellsouth.net]

This is very well written and I recommend everyone take a little
time to read this entire write-up. You won't be disappointed!

Dear Friends: My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign, Illinois. I'm
46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small
business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don't considerable myself to be 
either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican 
or Democrat. I don't believe there are "two Americas" - but that every 
person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if 
they'll just work to get there - and nowhere else on earth can they
find  such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are 
legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of
America  first.

The purpose of this message is that I'm concerned about the future of
this great nation. I'm worried that the silent majority of honest,  
hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too  
long. Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics.  They  
go about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and doing 
what they can to maintain the good life. They vote and consider doing so to 
be a sacred trust. They shake their heads at the political pundits and 
so-called "news", thinking that what they hear is always
spun by whomever is reporting it. They can't understand how elected
officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork barrel spending. 
They 
don't want government handouts. They want the government to protect
them, not raise their taxes for more government programs.

We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders. 
It's a privilege to do so. I've never found a candidate in any election
with whom I agreed on everything. I'll wager that most of us don't even
agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time. So when I step
into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast my 
vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I've hired
a lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that's what an election
is - a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for
me?   Whom can I trust to do the job right?

I'm concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply
don't get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can't explain, and calling
it "change".

Change what?, I ask.

Well, we're going to change America, they say.

In what way?, I query.

We want someone new and fresh in the White House, they exclaim.

So, someone who's not a politician?, I press.

Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we're voting for 
Obama, they state.

So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has 
enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education, 
raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news and win his 
party's nomination for the White House - that system's all wrong?

No, no, that part of the system's okay - we just need a lot of change.

And so it goes. "Change we can believe in." Quite frankly, I don't
believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me. In recent 
months, I've been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they're 
voting. I live in Illinois, so most folks tell me they're voting for 
Barack Obama. But no one can really tell me why - only that he's going
to change a lot of stuff. Change, change, change. I have yet to find one 
single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man
is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful 
nation on earth - other than the fact that he claims he's going to 
implement a lot of change.

We've all seen the emails about Obama's genealogy, his upbringing, his 
Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let's ignore this for a
moment. Put it all aside. Then ask yourself, what qualifies this man to
be my president? That he's a brilliant orator and talks about change?

CHANGE WHAT?

Friends, I'll be forthright with you - I believe the American voters
who are supporting Barack Obama don't have a clue what they're doing, as 
evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them I've
spoken to can spell out his qualifications. Not even the most liberal media
can explain why he should be elected. Political experience? Negligible. 
Foreign relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one. Someone who
wants to unite the country? If you haven't read his wife's thesis from 
Princeton, look it up on the web. This is who's lining up to be our
next First Lady? The only thing I can glean from Obama's constant harping
about change is that we're in for a lot of new taxes.

For me, the choice is clear. I've looked carefully at the two leading 
applicants for the job, and I've made my choice.

Here's a question - where were you five and a half years ago? Around 
Christmas, 2002. You've had five or six birthdays in that time. My son
has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a
half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep.
6, 000 meals, give or take.

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North 
Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. When offered early release, he refused it. 
He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and 
insisted that those held longer than he should be released first. Did you get 
that part? He was 
offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture 
began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a 
foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow 
man? I submit that's a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, 
this singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military 
service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to 
denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A graduate of 
Annapolis, during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze
Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now 
serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq. Barack Obama is fond of saying "We honor 
John McCain's service...BUT...", which to me is condescending and offensive - 
because what I hear is, "Let's forget this man's sacrifice for his country 
and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some more about change."

I don't agree with John McCain on everything - but I am utterly
convinced that he is qualified to be our next President, and I trust him to 
do 
what's right. I know in my heart that he has the best interests of our 
country in mind. He doesn't simply want to be President - he wants to
lead America, and there's a huge difference. Factually, there is simply no 
comparison between the two candidates. A man of questionable background
and motives who prattles on about change can't hold a candle to a man
who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from
the Navy in 1981 and elected to the Senate in 1982.

Perhaps Obama's supporters are taking a stance between old and new.
Maybe they don't care about McCain's service or his strength of character, or
his unblemished qualifications to be President. Maybe "likeability" is a 
higher priority for them than "trust". Being a prisoner of war is not what 
qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America -
but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.

Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking 
Americans to say, "Enough." It is time for people of all parties to
stop following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep
America first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a
dialogue with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they're voting for,
and why.

There's a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to all 
of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a man who 
knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want a  man who 
puts my family's interests before any foreign country.

I want a President who's qualified to lead.

I want my country back, and I'm voting for John McCain.
 
Joe Porter