The facts are these; I'm going to be 58 in December, I'm blind in one eye and have dealt with a severe, debilitating arthritic disease since I was in my early 30's.  Most people would say I am disabled.  But I continue to work full-time and in my spare time, run an online support group for people who are afflicted with the same disease from which I suffer. 

I am a lifelong Democrat, and have voted in every election since I came of age.  As a senior in high school, I passed out leaflets for Eugene McCarthy.  I once considered myself a Liberal idealist,  something that most people today would dismiss with a mocking gesture of disdain. As I got older, I lost that idealism as the realities of Life claimed a bigger and bigger piece of me.  In 1992, I tried to rev up my old idealism, but it wasn't the same. I was older, wiser, and more saavy to the evils of the opposition.  I had come to know that idealism is seldom treated kindly. In fact, it is most often assassinated or left to die by people's refusal to take a chance on it, for fear of being horribly disappointed ... again.  It hurts so much each and every time that our idealism is ripped away and killed by the cynicism and negativity of non-believers.  Now, I've watched and thrilled as Obama has re-kindled the fires of optimism and hope in the hearts of so many people. But now I also see the forces of evil and their steamroller of cynicism, hate and utter lies bearing down on our cause.  They want to once again kill off idealism and the hopes and dreams of millions because it scares them and threatens their grip on power.  They will stop at nothing. There is no dirty trick or sleazy tactic to which they will not stoop. That's just a fact.

 I watch and pray this year won't be the repeat of so many elections of the recent past.  Unfortunately, I no longer have the energy or the physical ability to go out and work for the Obama campaign, which is why I am sending this message out to all you healthy, young 20-somethings, the first time voters, the would-be idealists who still think they can change the world.  My message to you is this; You CAN change the world, in fact, you are my generation's best hope for salvation.  Please SAVE US!! 

The Mainstream Media likes to point out that the "youth vote" can never be counted on to show up.  They didn't show up for Gore, they didn't show up for Kerry, and they probably won't show up for Obama.  At least, that's what the 'smart money' says; the cable tv pundits and talk-radio spinmeisters ...

But you CAN prove all of the pundits and partisan spokespersons wrong and save us from the horrible fate of another Republican administration. You can save the world by simply showing up on election day en masse and voting as if your future and the future of the rest of America depended on it. (It actually does, you know ...)  

If you do show up, I will promise you this; your life will be changed more than mine.  You will enjoy the fruits of this idealism far longer than I will ... or anyone else will from my generation.   It's your future, I'm just fighting and struggling to survive in it.  So please, do an old crippled guy a favor. SAVE THE WORLD!

Show up on election day and vote Obama-Biden!

Thanks.