The following is a copy of my recent reply to a friend's response to my original email (see below), in which he expressed fears that the danger of electing Barack Obama was installing another tax-hungry liberal in the White House :

Thanks for the response, buddy. I agree with just about all of your complaints, but don't think Obama represents the same kind of liberal logic that you may think he does. As far as I can tell, Barack's main tax proposal is to readjust the tax cuts from the wealthy toward the middle class. While that may mean that the Bush cuts may be reduced to some extent for the wealthiest Americans, he doesn't, to my knowledge, want to increase their tax to upwards of 60%. That would be political suicide. What he is proposing is that the middle tax brackets receive a greater share of income return than they currently do and that the highest bracket return to previous levels.

Research shows that the Bush tax cuts have far and away benefited the wealthiest 1% of Americans the most, resulting in further income polarization in the United States (read, for example http://www.cbpp.org/8-25-04tax.htm. ) I do not subscribe to the theory of "trickle-down economics," that when the top benefits, the rest of the country will follow suit. The greatest periods of growth, profit and employment in U.S. history (e.g. 1940s, 50s, and 90s) were all marked by a healthy middle-class. When the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class begins to dwindle, we run into trouble (e.g. late 1920s, 2000s). Not that it is the burden of the rich to pay for the lazy, unfortunate, etc. I don't believe in handouts at the expense who've earned their wealth and I am confident Barack Obama doesn't either. He proposes job programs, education and so forth, not a massive socialized welfare system.

You are bang on about government spending, also. One of the worst aspects of the current administration is that they have decreased government income while simultaneously setting records for government spending. Even Alan Greenspan has been critical of this facet of the Bush years. Obama has some interesting ideas on the subject and seems to understand that spending needs to be much more responsible (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/fiscal/).

As far as health care is concerned, I think it is a travesty that our country, with the world's greatest economy - triple the size of the second biggest, Japan - has some 45 million people who are uninsured for health care. That means that about 15 percent of our population cannot afford to visit a doctor when they get the flu or break their arm, let alone something more serious, and these people are mostly average Americans working to make a living, or the children of those who are. Also, I don't think this has anything to do with population size. We're talking population proportions and standards of living, here. Read the following for some comparative info: http://www.pnhp.org/facts/international_health_systems.php?page=all . I think you'll find that rather than a universal health care system, or socialized system as you mentioned, Barack Obama is proposing a health insurance program with substantially more flexibility (e.g. the option of choosing any other private insurance provider) while reaching the millions who cannot afford or have not been provided one through employment. Dennis Kucinich was the only candidate, to my knowledge, that was proposing a large socialized universal health care system, and we know what happened to him in this contest. Plenty of countries find a more coordinated, less burdensome way to bring health insurance to nearly every citizen, and they are not all small, obscure, leftist-leaning European nations, either (see above photo). They are by and large, however, developed and industrialized nations that worry more about the long-term burden a high percentage of uninsured citizens would ultimately have on their society and economy, rather than on the short-term costs it might impose on private insurance companies or employers.

Well, I hope this email and some of the links I've attached to it give you adequate information to dispel the suspicions you have of Barack Obama being another heavily taxing, quasi-socialist liberal. I believe he is not. I think he's proposing sensible compromises on a number of issues that Americans across the spectrum can get on board together with to make our country better, and furthermore provides a sense of pride and inspiration in the American political process that we've long lacked. Hope you agree, buddy, and thanks for engaging in the discussion with me.

The following is a copy of an email I wrote recently declaring my support of a candidate for President of the United States :

Friends and Family -

I know it might be slightly tasteless and in several cases futile to make a mass email to encourage your support of a particular candidate for President of the United States, but you all know what a political animal I am, so it shouldn't be terribly surprising that I am doing so nonetheless. What's more, I - like a great many Americans - am more optimistic in this race about the possibility of a genuine turning point for the better in American politics than I can recall ever having been. It should also be no surprise that the candidate that gives me the most hope for the future of our country is the one who has similarly inspired millions of people in recent months and years: Senator Fred Thompson. Just kidding, it's Barack Obama.

To those of you who already support Senator Obama, don't neglect your opportunity to cast your vote for him in your state's primary or caucus, if you haven't already done so. To those who are uncertain about your choice for President, indulge me a few comments on his behalf. I believe that in Barack Obama, you will find a candidate that not only fights to eradicate lingering inequality our country, to bring opportunity, healthcare, and education to every American, and pursue forward-looking energy and environmental policy, but one who will do so through sound fiscal policy, without massive deficit spending or wholesale tax increases. I believe that through Barack Obama, gone are the days of the "tax-and-spend" paradigm in the Democratic party. He proves what I've long believed: that it's possible to be socially progressive on certain issues and be fiscally responsible at the same time.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I feel that Senator Obama represents leadership we can be proud of in the world. The power of the United States of America dwarfs every other nation on Earth - economically, politically, militarily, and through the influence of our culture - but over recent years and decades we have squandered the opportunity to lead by example and our leaders have betrayed the trust the world once had in our ideas, our principles, and the promise of our prosperity. President John F. Kennedy once noted, "Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us--and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill--constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities." To that effect, Barack Obama gives me hope. Hope that the world may someday grant our country respect not out of fear, but out of admiration. He gives me hope that we can live better together in our time and ensure that our children may do the same in theirs, and in doing so bear our responsibility as citizens of the city upon a hill with pride.

To those of you who tend to lean too far to the right to consider voting for a Democratic candidate, forget about the funny name (he's not a secret operative for Al Qaeda), take a leap of faith from the Dark Side and support a candidate for President who can truly bring our country together, not drive us farther apart.