"he's not perfect, and he's not the messiah, but I love him.....

emma - spoiling the soup – is that the same as dumping garbage in the ocean or pumping pollutants of any kind into the air or waterways??  :-)  

craig – I think that it's very sad that, as a society, we no longer believe that one can run for office and still have honor.  I think that many people can lie and get away with it, in many walks of life, if they are clever and inclined to spend much energy keeping their stories straight.  I'm not as jaded as you are I guess.  I know one, lifelong, local politician who walks his talk to the point of riding his bike to work in snowstorms.  People accuse him of being dirty and a liar when they disagree with what he stands for or with how he votes and other people choose to believe those accusations.  maybe some people who don't know him now think he's a liar too just because he's been a representative in govenment for so long and because someone they respected or admired said he was a liar.  I don't think that all politician lack honor.  I also think it's tragic that we nail them to a cross if they change their mind about a thing or two.  I, for one, want representatives that are smart, hard working, and thoughtful enough to be able to change their mind if they learn something new or hear a convincing case for changing a perspective.  I don't want a representative that will stick by a wrong decision just in the interest of being called consistent– consistently wrong??  I for one, though I have an abiding interest in government and an abiding interest in our future, and consider myself pretty smart and pretty capable, would hesitate to run for even local office because I've made plenty of mistakes in my life and the vetting processs and the running process is just brutal.  I'm too far from perfect to think that I'd even have a shot, though I know I'd be an honorable, very decent, smart representative of my constituents if I were to be elected.  So – anyway, I find it very sad that we think it is impossible to be honorable and also be elected to government office. 

janet – i can say it.  I love him and I want him to be President!!  I read the book he published in 1995, long before he probably even imagined being President and I when I read it, long before he announced a candidacy, I hoped that he would be one of our leaders someday.  From that reading I percieved a thoughtful, self-aware, intelligent, caring, idealistic person.  I saw so many similarities to my own experience of life.  he's bound to make mistakes, as are we all, but I do think that right now he is the best hope for this country.