Judge Obama by the content of his character

Tom Harper, Henderson

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.

I agreed with Charles Long’s Thursday letter, headlined “Specter of voting booth racism not exorcised,” on how sad it is that we’re still having a dialogue about race when Barack Obama is eminently more qualified than his opponent.

I’ve supported Obama since I read his books, “The Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams From My Father.” These books gave me the insight that Obama is a dynamic thinker, a dynamic writer and a dynamic speaker and has the life experiences that would give him the empathy and firsthand knowledge of the needs of common Americans, unlike George W. Bush, whose “silver spoon” and “boy in the bubble” life experiences ill-suited him for the presidency.

I also support Obama because of his sound judgment, temperament, vision and understanding in 2002 of the grave consequences of going to war in Iraq; he made the uncanny and accurate assessment that the invasion would only “fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst, rather than the best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaida.”

I watched Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday and as I expected, it was extraordinary. He referred to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s address at the march on Washington of Aug. 28, 1963. I believe it is important to remember that more than 45 years ago Dr. King spoke of the “fierce urgency of now” and said, “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from ... racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

After all these years, isn’t it time for all of us to put issues of race behind us and recognize our common bonds of brotherhood (and sisterhood) and vote not because of the color of a man or a woman but because someone is unquestionably more qualified to be president of the United States? I believe this is the time and Barack Obama is the candidate.