T.J. Connolly (photo)
Happy 4th of July.
Today America celebrates it’s 232nd birthday. As she celebrates her birthday, our nation finds itself fighting two wars, both which over the past 5 years have claimed over 4,500 American service men and women’s lives, and returned over 18,000 American troops to the U. S. missing a limb...or two.
The economy has stalled, the Dow Jones has gone from a Bull Market to a Bear Market. Unemployment is at it’s highest rate in 4+ years. Mortgage rates are on the rise. A gallon of gas, since America’s last birthday in 2007, has jumped $1.20 a gallon, to over $4 per-gallon. With future increases assured.So, with all the doom and gloom, why do presumptive presidential nominees Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. John McCain find themselves in such a close race for the Presidency, just 124 days from Election Day?
Based solely on the economic woes we are facing, Sen. Barack Obama should be enjoying a 10% - 15%+ lead on Sen. John McCain. What is keeping Sen. McCain within striking distance of Sen. Obama? McCain’s personal character. What will keep Obama in the lead, at least until mid-October? Sen. Obama’s personal character. Far too many presidential elections have come and gone over the past several decades where Americans could stand back, look at the two nominees, and be proud of both.
In 2008, while both Obama and McCain have strikingly different positions on many key issues, both men possess personal character, and both possess a personal story that should make us all proud.
We know McCain’s outstanding military service to our nation. Shot down over Vietnam, as a POW for over 5 years, he was offered an early release. He turned it down, electing to stay imprisoned with his fellow servicemen. For that decision, he earned a couple of broken arms and other physical abuses. Once the war was over and he was freed, he went on to serve 8 more years in the military. He then elected to continue in public service, spending over 25 years in the U. S. House and U. S. Senate.
Along the way, he adopted and help raise two boys from his first marriage. With his current wife of over 25 years Cindy, they had and raised four children, and in the mid-1990’s adopted an African American baby that was thrust into Cindy McCain's arms during a visit with Mother Teresa at her orphanage. Sen. McCain is a man of true character, with a compelling personal story.
We know that Barack Obama was born to an African American father, and a Kansas-born Anglo Mother. His father was pretty absent from his life. His mother too was gone often, leaving Obama to be raised by his Anglo grandparents. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, a young Black boy being raised by two elderly Anglos was not too common in Kansas.
Obama went on to sail through Harvard Law School, and moving to Chicago, rather than taking a six-figure job that was offered to him at a number of the top law firms, Obama elected to work in his community. He provided low cost legal advice, helped organize his community for reform and better housing. He married his law school sweetheart Michele, and together they are raising two daughters. Like McCain, Obama passed on the road to money, and sought public service. First, as a State Senator in the Illinois Legislature, and then, in 2004, he was elected to the United States Senate.
Over the next 124 days, the campaigns of both men, as well as their political parties, will paint both men far different from who they truly are. It will be rough, at times disgusting. That’s politics. But on Wednesday, November 5th, the morning after the election, both men will wake up with their personal stories, their personal characters intact.
One will be the new President-Elect. The other will return to the U. S. Senate. And America will have had, for the first time in decades, an election between two candidates of strong character. Two candidates that we can be proud of. We have done so far worse in past elections. Happy 4th of July
T. J. Connolly
President & CEO
Connolly & Company, Ltd.
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