With five more primary elections to go, Barack Obama has captured the popular vote, is winning by two to one in the state tally, is ahead in pledged delegates, and has garnered more super delegates than his opponent.  Why doesn’t Senator Clinton bow out of the race, gracefully, now?   Let’s examine what she and no one in her campaign are willing to talk about, the elephant in her dressing room.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are dependent upon one another; they are living the classic codependent relationship.  Codependency occurs when two people form a relationship with each other because neither feels that he or she can “stand alone.”  Neither person feels capable or self-reliant.  It is as if two half parts are trying to make a whole.  Both partners are seeking to become psychologically complete by binding the other partner to themselves.

You might be thinking, “Where do you get off saying such things about a former president and his wife who is running for president.”  I believe this to be true because of my experience as a Codependent woman for forty years.  We have reached the point in our history that our role models are dysfunctional.  As Robert Burney, author of Codependence: The Dance of Wounded Souls says, “Dysfunctional families are the product of an emotionally dishonest, shame based, patriarchal society based upon beliefs that do not support Loving self or Loving neighbor.” 

I remember quite clearly the first time I ever saw Hillary Clinton.  She was seated demurely next to her husband Bill Clinton in a hotel room during his presidential campaign in 1992 for his interview with Steve Kroft for CBS News’s “60 Minutes”. When the allegations were made that he had a 12 year liaison with Gennifer Flowers, an Arkansas state employee, many viewers were shocked.  Bill Clinton denied Flower’s accusation, but he admitted that his marriage had not been without problems. “I have acknowledged wrongdoing,” Clinton said.  “I have acknowledged causing pain in my marriage. I have said things to you tonight and to the American people from the beginning that no American politician ever has.”  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing.

Hillary’s expression was deeply hurt, although she did her best to remain tough.  Throughout the interview, she defended her husband and their marriage. “You know, I’m not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette,” she said. “I’m sitting here because I love him and I respect him and I honor what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together, and, you know, if that’s not enough for people, then heck, don’t vote for him.”

I remember feeling sorry for her that she had to endure this humiliation on national television.  How awful it must have been to experience such grief and then be forced to shove the feelings down to “save face.”  Why would a woman stay with a man after such a serious and dramatic disgrace?

This wasn’t the first or the last time she would do this. 

In spite of the fact that Gennifer Flowers held a press conference in which she played tape recordings she claimed were of secretly recorded intimate phone calls with Bill Clinton; the public accepted the renunciation of his marital infidelity. Later that year we know that he went on to be elected president.   All the publicity surrounding his affair was pushed to the background with all the excitement of the new administration.  (Flowers resurfaced again when in February of this year, 2008, she put the answering machine tapes for auction.)

Up next is Paula Jones.  On May 8, 1991, according to her story, Ms. Jones was escorted to the room of Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, in the Excelsior (now Peabody) Hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he allegedly propositioned her.  Jones filed a sexual harassment and eschewal suit against Clinton on May 6, 1994, two days prior to the 3-year statute of limitations.  Although there were no witnesses to back up Jones’s account, many other women were willing to testify to similar behavior by Clinton.  He and his defense team challenged Jones’s right to bring a civil lawsuit against a sitting president for an incident that occurred prior to the defendant’s becoming president.  The case wound its way through the courts, eventually reaching the Supreme Court on January 13,1997.  The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Clinton, and they allowed the lawsuit to proceed. 

Under penalty of perjury, Paula Jones declared that Clinton had Trooper Danny Ferguson escort her to Clinton’s hotel room where Clinton made sexual advances that Jones rejected.  Clinton eventually dropped both his trousers and his underwear and exposed himself to Jones, at which time Jones said she had to go.  Before the case reached trial, Judge Susan Webber Wright granted President Clinton motion for summary judgment.  Jones appealed the dismissal.  On November 13, 1998 Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000, the entire amount of her claim, but without an apology, in exchange for her agreement to drop the appeal. 

This was another scandal for which Hillary Clinton had to wear a “brave face.”  Can you imagine how awful that must have been for her to anguish weeks, months and years of embarrassment behind closed doors.  She seemed to stay out of the spotlight and I can certainly understand why.  What was she thinking? What was she doing to manage the wound when she was alone?

Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse for Bill and Hillary Clinton, it did!  Monica Lewinsky.  This dishonor was to happen right under the nose of Hillary Clinton in the White House during Bill Clinton’s Presidency.  Between November 1995 and March 1997, Lewinsky had an intimate relationship with President Bill Clinton.  She testified that the relationship involved oral sex in the Oval Office and other sexual conduct but she said they didn’t have intercourse.  This affair became known and was plastered on every pulp paper on the newsstands.  It went on and on and on due to the diligence of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.  There probably isn’t one person who doesn’t know the outcome of this scandal; a 21-day trial brought up on charges by the House of Representatives which ended with Bill Clinton’s impeachment.  The Senate vote fell short of the 2/3 majority required for conviction and removal from office under the Constitution.  Polls of the American electorate taken at this time showed that up to 70% were against pursuing the allegations.

On “Dateline NBC” in November, 1998 another bomb shell was dropped.  Juanita Broaddrick, a former nursing home administrator from Arkansas, alleged that Bill Clinton had raped her on April 25, 1978, two decades earlier during his first campaign for the governorship of Arkansas.  She said she was visiting Little Rock for a nursing home seminar.  During the Paula Jones trial she had signed a sworn affidavit denying that Clinton had assaulted her because she didn’t want to be forced to testify about one of the most horrific events of her life.  She didn’t want to go through it again.  Many believe she changed her mind because of intimidation from Clinton.  She claimed she was being watched from parked cars, her home had been broken into, her pets released and her answering machine tape stolen while she and her husband were away briefly during the House impeachment probe.  Her interview was thought to be credible. 

Of course we will never know what was going on between Bill and Hillary Clinton but having this shame repeated boldly, over and over, to the American public must have been horrendous for Hillary Clinton.  I am sure it was horrible for both of them but I, being a woman, felt for her.  At the time I had many questions.  Does Hillary have a secure inner self?  She is an extremely intelligent woman; when will she denounce her husband’s actions?  Perhaps divorce is out of the question while Bill is still the President of the United States but what about when his term is over?  She seemed to be heavily into DENIAL!  I accepted this as her role of First Lady but thought surely when they left the White House she would separate.  It never happened.

I feel certain her run for the Senate in the state of New York was in preparation for her current presidential campaign.  Hillary and Bill Clinton need each other. They have built a life together of seeking control at any cost.  Lying seems to be second nature.  During the last several months Hillary Clinton has embarrassed herself many times with blatant distortions of the facts.  A few examples of the Clinton’s lies on the campaign trail:   1. Bill Clinton lied to voters at their rallies and said he had been opposed to the Iraq war from the start.   2. Hillary Clinton lied and said she had been opposed to NAFTA. After an advocacy group sued to have her First Lady records released, it was revealed that she had supported and advocated for NAFTA.   3. Hillary Clinton lied to voters about a trip to Bosnia claiming she was running for cover and did not attend a greeting ceremony. 4. Bill Clinton lied to voters about Barack Obama’s Iraq record.  5. Bill Clinton just completely made up a story to supporters about Obama dismissing the 90s.  6. Hillary Clinton said she was instrumental in helping bring peace to Northern Ireland.  7. Hillary Clinton lied to Iowa and New Hampshire voters about whether she would try to count the Florida and Michigan primaries.  8. Hillary Clinton lied at one of her rallies and said she began criticizing the Iraq War before Barack Obama did.  9. On April 21, Bill Clinton said “I think they played the race card on me” of the Obama campaign. The next day when an NBC reporter asked Clinton, “Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?” Clinton claimed that he didn’t make that statement.

Hillary supporters think she is a strong woman.  I don’t agree.  At times I actually feel sorry for her.  I believe her need to prove herself  “to herself,” to Bill, and to the world is her overwhelming reason to want to become President of the United States.  Just for a moment, try and imagine what it would feel like, to be in her shoes.  I have tried and can’t even go that deep.  She has created a false persona with facial gestures, and a boisterous laugh, which most of the time seem to be insincere. She appears to have an ego run amuk.  She is not willing to face the truth about Barack Obama’s lead.  The numbers don’t add up but it doesn’t seem to matter.  She will continue at all cost, even if it hurts the Democratic Party. 

One day I was listening to a radio station when a  woman caller made this suggestion:  “Hillary Clinton will not quit.  She is not going anywhere.  I have an idea.  Let’s suggest she be nominated as Supreme Court Judge.  This will satisfy her ego, need for approval and at the same time she could give back to society what she has been longing to give.”  Not a bad idea. 

As we are walking in the house my husband Bryan excitedly says, “The red light is blinking, pick it up, it might be someone important!” Underneath strewn clothes and luggage is an answering machine used for one purpose, calls with an 800 number from prospective birth mothers, nurse mid-wives, doctors, pregnancy crisis centers and anyone who might have information about adopting a baby. Although our search for an infant is well into the third year, I don’t want to pick up the phone today. Bryan is home for just two days; I have missed him terribly. He travels extensively as a marine engineer and is on his way to Japan for a ship overhaul after working in Louisiana for three weeks. I have been answering calls for months feeling nothing but disappointment and frustration. No, today I just want to enjoy our short time together and forget the difficult roller coaster ride we share.

Our journey toward adoption began when we circulated 4000 Dear Birthmother Letters stating our desire to adopt a child. Almost immediately this brochure found its way into the hands of a beautiful blonde Russian woman who approached us with a proposition we hadn’t considered. She offered to be a surrogate mother. Both Bryan and I had mixed opinions about this option. I think I was keener than he to accept her proposal because I felt it was providence. Galina was from Kiev, Russia the city my deceased father had immigrated from at the turn of the 20th century, plus the fact she looked exactly like a picture of my mother which hung in our family room for years.

We located a professional team at a center for surrogate parenting to help us with the details. Galina, Bryan and I spent months visiting a variety of legal, medical and psychological programs which included an infertility specialist, sperm laboratory, psychologist, attorney, and hospital. Each step was costly, time consuming and waiting became commonplace. Finally after about six month’s preparation we were ready for the big event, the first artificial insemination. Three days before the scheduled procedure Galina called with the horrible news that her twin brother had died in Russia. We didn’t know she had a brother.

After a gap of months, that we assumed was due to her mourning, Galina was ready to plan another attempt. This time her cycle of ovulation was to fall when Bryan would be overseas. He was emotionally and physically exhausted but agreed to fly home in the middle of his job. Again we were eagerly anticipating a baby coming into this world. It was not to be. Galina left us a devastating message on our answering machine that she couldn’t go through with it and that we were not to contact her for several weeks. We were both left in a state of shock. Our funds were depleted and we had lost a year of our lives.

Although discouraged, we began studying open adoption. We took classes, read books and watched videos. Visualizing our desires we made a photo scrapbook for prospective birthparents.

Unfortunately there were two more experiences that were hurtful and debilitating: One young woman who lived in Wisconsin convinced us we were the perfect parents for her unborn child due in four months. We traveled to meet her and were met by a social worker who was bewildered and confused. Apparently the birthmother was telling another couple the same thing and had been doing so for months. The second situation involved me driving by myself all night through a terrible rain storm (Bryan was out of town) to visit a woman who also said she wanted us as adoptive parents for the baby she would soon deliver. After weeks of indecision she decided I was too old to be a mother.

At this point I was almost ready to give up our dream.

I notice the clock reads 4:00 pm. “Oh, I guess I’ll answer it,” I say with trepidation.

A melodic voice clearly announces “Hello Bryan and Kay, I hope you are not out of town. I am Nurse Fisher calling you at noon on October 7th. We have a birthmother who has looked at the letters of several couples and she has chosen you to be the parents of her child. Please call us as soon as you get this message.”

We are stunned to silence. Slowly we come to our senses and Bryan says, “Call her back immediately!”

My heart is pounding as I am dialing the number. When the nurse answers I anxiously say, “We are delighted with your news. Tell me, when is the baby due?”

“Oh honey, one of our patients, a young woman of 15, has given birth to a baby girl this morning. How soon can you come to the hospital?”

We are smacked in the face with the knowledge that over night we are about to become parents! Our adoption counselor has told us we never know how or when a baby will arrive and we need to be prepared. Fortunately we believe her and we have a crib, a rocker and changing table. Bumping into each other we check off the layette items necessary for a newborn to leave the hospital. After quickly packing a bag for ourselves, and arranging animal care for our three cats, we grab the car seat and drive several hours to our destination.

As we approach the pale green maternity room I am thinking, “It begins now, the most gratifying experience of my life. At the age of 54 I am about to be a mother for the first time. I wonder how long it will be before I again get 8 hours sleep.” Around the corner I see a lovely teenager sitting up in bed. I feel an instant connection with this young woman. We have heard from other adoptive parents that they love their birthmothers immediately. I didn’t believe it until today! She feels like family; I want to hug her and cry.

The baby girl is nestled in the acrylic bassinette. My heart swells as I touch her sweet head filled with thick, straight black hair. She looks up at us with her eyes wide open and purrs like a kitten. I feel her say, “I’ve been waiting for you. So glad you are here.” For a long time I have felt the presence of a soul wanting to come to me. I am sure this is she.

It has been 12 years since that incredible phone call. We enjoy an open adoption with our daughter’s birthmother and grandparents. There is not a day that goes by I don’t think of this special woman with love and gratitude for her unselfish decision. The path to Mariah may have been paved with bends and bumps but it led us to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the gift of a precious child.

What is going on?  For the first time in years the American public is energized, motivated and excited about politics.  Barack Obama has inspired our united spirit.  He has put the sparkle back in our lives.  Right now, at this time in our history, it is the best thing that could have happened.  I don’t ever remember being moved by a politician.  Never.  That is, not until now!  Senator Obama has awakened thousands of people to optimism.  He has the courage, energy and enthusiasm to propose we actually work toward becoming a balanced humanity.   Together we can hope, dream and visualize our way to an equitable future.  He sees the whole picture with superior intelligence and great depth of understanding.  Just imagine he is stirring a nation! 

My nature is not to be cynical, but considering the imbalance of the current administration, I have felt terribly disheartened the last several years.  I have not been alone in my consternation about the war in Iraq, the economy, health care, education, global warming, and the erosion of our constitution.  These, plus a myriad of other issues, have weighed heavily on us collectively as a country.  We certainly are witnessing a dysfunctional government which has been forcing its policy on us to the point of dis-ease.  We have become an unhealthy society.

We allowed two elections to be stolen and then have slowly watched in horror as our values have been twisted and distorted and then spread around the world as political gospel. We have an emotionally dishonest, fear based President who has done nothing to support love of ourselves or love of our neighbors.  

As a collective group of souls we have felt tricked into a war not of our choosing.  We see ourselves as victims.  The amount of money borrowed and squandered will put us in debt for generations to come.  Negative news is propagated through the main stream media.  Apprehension has permeated much of our lives. We have taken a huge hit to our security, growth and well being. With the pain, poverty, and shame we have been experiencing, it is easy to feel helpless.  There are steps we can take to walk the path to sanity, but since we have had so much resistance it is difficult to know where to start?

We begin with HOPE.

In my film, I SURVIVED: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY OF SELF-HEALING AND TRANSFORMATION, I shared my story of hope.  After years of repression and emotional turmoil, when I had reached bottom, and was seriously contemplating suicide, I had a dream that it was possible to become balanced and whole.  I saw a glimmer of light coming from a rock, a light as small as a tiny speck of dust that I focused on for months. Slowly the light began to get brighter and brighter.   I never gave up HOPE and worked on my recovery steadily for seven years. I now am a healthy, happy woman. 

At the same time I was beginning to heal, I received a book of poems in the mail from an anonymous benefactor.  Enclosed with this book was a beautiful card with a quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson that read: We judge a man’s wisdom by his hope.   

We may not be mindful of the fact that we need inspiration to pull ourselves out of chaos but Barack Obama has appeared when we collectively have reached bottom. He is raising us up from the victim mentality where we have felt trapped and think there is nothing we can do about the injustice so apparent in our country.  He is leading a tidal wave of movement by showing us that together we have the opportunity to free ourselves from an oppressive government.  He has given us a reason to wish, anticipate, and trust that we can create a healthy America, a fair and just government, where our dreams will not be buried forever.  He is a strong, balanced man, one who genuinely cares about his fellow human beings.  If the work he has done in the past is an indication of his future, I have no doubt he will make a great president.  I urge you to check out his impressive voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate.

I don’t believe in accidents.  His inspiration is an agent of hope. I feel Senator Obama is divine guidance influencing the soul of humanity.  He is a gift to us!

Let’s focus our lives on joy and light

The lens will radiate flowers and sunshine

Film our dreams of peace and truth

The camera will capture them willingly

Visualize the drama with hope in our hearts

The reward will be laced with tranquility

Feel the production as a movement of souls

United by sharing and caring

We shall gather together to help and heal

Trusting, balancing, harmonizing

What do we call this energy force?

LOVE, it is the dance of life.

Kay Kopit

1985  

I found this poem I wrote many years ago.

It appears it is coming to fruition.

Once a month I find myself gravitating toward the most unique Coffee House/Cafe in Berkeley, CA.  I discovered this special place for dining about eight years ago from the recommendation of a friend.  This restaurant has long been known for its delicious cuisine and comfortable ambience.  I am drawn to this café for breakfast because of the calm, peace and beauty I feel when dining alone in the fireplace room.  I don’t know of any other restaurant like this in the Oakland/Berkeley area.

Yesterday morning it was unseasonably cold in the Bay Area.  Bundled in my thick fleece coat, I was on my way for an appointment when I realized I had time to enjoy this mealtime pleasure.  The moment I put my foot on the front brick steps I felt as though I was on holiday in France.  From the cream colored lace drapes to the amber wood floors I was welcomed by coziness.  The smell of Eucalyptus firewood invited me to the back room.  I noticed a woman and a younger guy warming themselves by the raging yellow-orange flames.  They had pulled their small round table all the way up next to the fire screen. 

My first thought was, oh darn, they are hogging the heat.  I was so cold I decided to leave my table and stand by the fireplace practically on top of them.  I made a quick assessment, albeit unfairly, and thought, what a motley crew.  I wondered, are you mother and son?  The woman with her flushed face, was disheveled, wearing only a thin sweater with several stains and scarf, while her hair was uncombed and stuck up in peaks at the top of her head.  The guy had Dreads half way down his back and appeared half asleep.  On any other day I would have stayed at my own table, relaxing and enjoying the fire from a distance.  Usually I don’t want to interact with anyone because the very reason I go to this restaurant is to be alone with my own thoughts and visions.  I don’t believe in accidents and there was a reason I lingered by the fire.

The woman, I will call her Cathleen, said to me sweetly, “Would you like to join us for breakfast?”

The Co-Dependent Me answered, “Thank you, that would be lovely,” while I was thinking, pooh, I wish I hadn’t said that.  Still, to this day 20 years into recovery, I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings.  I thought of the two of them before myself; but as it turned out, it was serendipitous.

I didn’t even have to look at the creative menu to know what I wanted.  Almost every time I go, I order the same thing; the sampler plate, consisting of two eggs, bacon or sausage, fruit and French toast.  (They use special bread for their French toast.)  It is yummy.  The guy, I will call him Josh, ordered an omelet while Cathleen ordered a glass of Merlot; and no food.  Josh asked her twice, “Aren’t you going to eat?”  And then he asked again, “When are you going to eat?”

It was then that Cathleen started talking incessantly.  She clarified that they had both had been up all night; not together, and that Josh was her neighbor.  (I found out they barely knew each other and met on the street where they both live.)  She had wanted to introduce him to Le Bateau Ivre.  Josh is a musician and works painting houses.  He indeed had been finishing the detail work on an apartment with a friend until the early morning hours.  Cathleen’s hands were shaking but she managed to speak intelligently on so many subjects.  We discovered we had known the same artists working in the 1970’s.  I couldn’t deny I recognized all the signs of alcoholism in Cathleen’s mannerisms.

I have mentioned this before in some of my previous articles:  I have to be very careful not to be swept up in the energy of others who are entrenched in their addictions, (whatever the addiction might be).  It is almost as if I wear a light bulb on the top of my head.  The light bulb goes off and signals to strangers who are into denial, but obviously addicted, that I am available to listen to their plight.  I have come a long way since the days when I was equally as fixed in denial but at times I continue to be drawn to these individuals.

It is not uncommon for me to talk about my journey of healing, my documentary and web site.  Yesterday I began spewing information without really realizing who I was talking to.  Cathleen had many questions which I was happy to answer.  She said very little about her personal life but I was quite impressed and interested in the plethora of knowledge she had about the arts.  We exchanged phone numbers as I often do with fascinating people I meet.   The shared breakfast was quite enjoyable and when the meter ran out I said goodbye.

Later on in the day Cathleen called me at 6:00 pm.   She was very polite and appreciative for any time I could give her on the phone.  Normally I am busy preparing dinner but last night my husband was out of town and Mariah and I had already eaten.  I gladly took her call.  I put on my ear phones and plopped myself down in the living room on my cushy sofa where I could be more comfortable.  What proceeded was a two hour conversation.  I am sure you have figured it out by now.  She is in the depths of alcoholism, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually a wreck, very close to bottom (if not there now.)  I heard every detail of her life for the last twenty years.  She, like all the rest of us with addictive personalities, denies the truth before her.  Yes, she admits she has a drinking problem but the pain is so great, she is stuck in DEPRESSION and DENIAL.  I started noticing about an hour into the conversation I was getting a terrible stomach ache.  Stomach aches have always been my signal that there is an imbalance surfacing within me.  I needed to confront her with the truth from my prospective.

“Cathleen, you are powerless over alcohol.  You need help.”

She said she had tried AA and was terribly uncomfortable.  I shared with her that it took 6 meetings at Al-Anon before I got the message.  I hated the meetings at first.  Then I suggested, individual counseling, group counseling, Adult Children of Alcoholics, self-help books and on and on.  I could see, as I have so many times in my life, she wasn’t ready to listen.

This made me sad but I also knew that each of us has a choice to end the suffering and move, one step at a time, ahead, to a higher and better thought, a better place.  There is a bottom to the bottomless pit.  When one hits that space, you can only go up.  The universe is willing, waiting and anxious for us to have the desire and faith that we can be balanced and well.  It is our divine right to be healthy.  But it is our individual responsibility to gather the courage to send the arrow of desire out to the world and declare our willingness to heal. The part that is so hard for most of us is; to be open and accepting that we have the right to heal and are capable of healing.  We can learn to love ourselves no matter how devastating, embarrassing, painful, or incriminating our past has been.  This I know for a fact, because I lived that desolation for the first 40 years of my life.

I finished my conversation with Cathleen and wished her well.  After hanging up the phone I held the picture of her as a balanced, happy woman.  My dream is that somewhere down the road she and I will again have breakfast at Le Bateau Ivre.  I am visualizing the next time we meet she is healthy and vibrant and able to appreciate the Sampler Plate.  I am so grateful to be alive and conscious.   Wow, what a contrast between my old life and my new life.  I am hoping that she too will feel this way soon and together we can share in the light of the fire.

We are a nation ready to dream, visualize and co-create a magnificent existence.  Barack Obama has the passion to guide us to this reality.  When he enters a room he fills the space with his powerful presence.  He moves with grace and his words flow like pearls.  It is more than charisma.  He is a man who has lived the most unusual life and one who appreciates everything he has been given.  He wants to share with us his riches of wisdom, compassion, and brotherhood.  We are sometimes stirred to tears because of our common dream of hope.  The hope that we can truly live what our forefathers declared in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Barack Obama is being compared to John F. Kennedy.  I was a college student when J.F.K. ran for president.  The atmosphere was entirely different on campuses in 1960.  Unless you were a political science major, students were not that politically motivated.  I remember nothing of a Democratic organization on campus and just barely recall a group called The Young Republicans.  We began to pay attention after he was elected and yes, we were wowed by his optimism and vision for this country and grateful he had been elected.  It is different today, millions of young people are eager to get involved to work for the betterment of their fellow human beings.  All across this country there are groups of interested students listening, believing, and being inspired by the vision Barack Obama holds for his country men and woman.  And, they are showing it with their vote.  But it isn’t just young people.  All ages of voters are embracing what he stands for: living our dreams as One American Family, relishing in the richness of our magnificent diversity.

How wonderful it would be to have an African-American man as our leader.  We can show the world what we have known for some time; we are capable of looking within and not judging a person by the color of their skin.  As a painter, color is one of my strengths.  I never use a pigment straight from the tube; I mix it with another shade for refinement and richness, creating a very special blend.  I believe this is true of Barack Obama; he is exceptional.  His DNA is impressed with the best of each parent.  Ever since I was a child I have thought people born of mixed races were unique.

Last night at the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, before this important Election Day next Tuesday, each of them promised John Edwards to continue to work for the poor and middle class.  I saw many similarities between the two candidates.  The biggest differences were with their plans for ending the war in Iraq and health care.  Both would represent the Democratic Party with intelligence and dignity.

The question I have is who is going to be the most adept fighter?  Let’s not kid ourselves.  The Republicans are ruthless in their strategy to defeat the Democrats.  This election in November will be one of the toughest we have ever seen.  This show-down will take a plan.  Hillary Clinton, is a formidable presence and is used to the cheap shots made by the GOP pundits.  She holds her own when pinned to the ground but when Senator Clinton speaks she loses me in verbosity.  When Senator Obama communicates he does so with calm intelligence.  There is something in his demeanor that speaks to the very heart of ones soul.  It is as if he is speaking to each of us individually like a concerned father.  How would this represent itself in a confrontation of wits or with deception thrown at him from the opposing side?  I see him as the adult, aligned with source, calmly grounded to his ideals and one step at a time reaching his goals.  It may not be a knock-out but the decision at the end of the fight will go to him.

I would be proud to see Barack Obama elected as the President of the United States of America.

I believe the candidate for President of the United States who will fight for his fellow human beings, is John Edwards. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have raised five times as much for their campaigns.  I don’t see how it is possible for Senator Obama or Senator Clinton to be truly effective as a President when they have accepted money from individuals associated with corporations that have a strangle hold on the legislators in Washington, D.C.

It would be naïve to think that anyone connected to these firms would ever give a donation without expecting a favor in return.  True CHANGE cannot occur until we stop the domination and pressure of corporate lobbyists.  As President, John Edwards vows to end this deranged balance of power!  He has never accepted money from these corporations and special interest groups!  Consider for a moment how SIGNIFICANT this is!   His support has come from a grassroots effort, nickels and dimes, a $50 here, a $100 there, from individuals like you and me, average folks struggling to comprehend what has happened to our dreams.

The greed of the multi-national drug, oil and insurance companies, with their lobbyists in full throttle, has disabled our representatives in Congress from properly representing their constituents.  We, the people, have been trapped in a cesspool of misunderstanding our rights.  We don’t seem to have any?  With our population exploding, the poor and the middle class are descending to a point close to the Great Depression.  Doesn’t it seem bizarre, and terribly wrong, that the top 2% of our population has as much money as the rest of all the citizens in our country!   It just sickens me.  John Edwards has fought these large corporations, representing the “little guy” who has been injured or in trouble, and WON!  He has the intelligence and drive to do the right thing!  He is willing to do this, as commander-in-chief, for all of us.

Unfortunately the average voter is not well informed about the ideas of the candidates and their qualifications.  We live in a world that is addicted to advertising.  When you have more money to spend you can influence each voter with ads airing on TV and arriving in the mail.  I personally have talked with many, many people who when asked why they are voting for a particular candidate will say, “I like the way they look.” or “They have charisma. When I press further as to their candidate’s position on the state of the economy, poverty, education, global warming, NAFTA, tax reform, and the war in Iraq, and their PLAN for CHANGE, I don’t get a response, just a blank stare.

John Edwards has made it clear that we are all in this together.  He sees us as having a collective responsibility.  We need to unite as a community of souls to heal the damage that has been done in our name.  Just last Memorial Day he sent out a beautiful memo honoring our Veterans with 10 ideas of how each of us could appreciate the men and woman who so bravely have given their lives for our country.  It was here that I learned I could sponsor a troop, i.e. soldier in Iraq.  He gave me the idea, one I hadn’t had before.  Another time he sent a letter detailing ways to help halt global warming.  He asked each of us for a pledge as to our commitment to this effort.  It seems at least once a month he shares his thoughts how we can be pro-active and be a part of the bonding necessary for true healing.

He has a practical PLAN.  His enlightening 80 page book spells out his ideas: an actual how-to manual that is inspiring, comprehensive, and thoughtful.  He makes it easy and clear to understand.  With his guidance and leadership I believe it is truly possible to be a nation of ONE, not a nation of many obsessed with individual acquisition.  I hope you will take the time to go to www.JohnEdwards.com and read this important document.

Can you imagine what it would be like to lose a child to death?  It is too difficult for me to even think about.  John Edwards has lived that reality.  The strength it would take to come back from the worst tragedy conceivable is almost incomprehensible.  He has been quoted as saying, “It makes you think about what you are doing and makes you probably more interested in serving.”  Serving is the word.  True serving is helping, giving, caring.  These are the attributes that he exemplifies.  He is known to have genuine compassion for people who are, or have been, in difficult times.  Right now that seems to be much of America.  He has, and will continue to be a strong voice for the poor and working class.  I happen to know from personal experience when your spirit has been depleted, your heart has been torn apart, and then you rise from the bottomless pit of pain, your focus has changed.  In John Edward’s life it is apparent he has the understanding, the depth of energy, and passion to inspire all of us to heal.  His strength of character was most evident with his response to the knowledge that his wife’s cancer had returned.  He stands by her with love and support.  Just the thought of the way he protects Elizabeth Edwards makes me feel safe.  He is authentic, a good man and has the potential to be a great leader.

My biggest fear for this election year is the reality of stolen elections, both the primary and the presidential.  It happened in 2000 and again in 2004.  Don’t be into denial!  IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN.  I urge you to visit www.blackboxvoting.org.What Bev Harris and her staff have uncovered is frightening about the Diebold voting machines.  In her book, “Black Box Voting – Ballot Tampering” and in the DVD, “Hacking Democracy” the multitude of problems around our country are spelled out in detail.  It is truly shocking.  We can’t trust the results in any primary election or the presidential election in November.  Also, a must see is UNCOUNTED by David Earnhardt.  It will disgust you how many victims there are in this country and how unfair, wrong, and illegal the election results were in 2000 and 2004.  Both Al Gore and John Kerry were “gentlemen” and chose not to contest their elections.  Who has the resilience, the courage, the fortitude and experience to challenge the results of a skewed presidential election?  There is one man, John Edwards.  Against the most difficult odds he has fought injustice, and WON.

Listening to Thom Hartmann’s show on Air America Radio on two occasions I heard him state that there have been 208 crisscross polls comparing all the original Democratic Primary Candidates with the original Republican Primary Candidates.  One by one they compared one Democrat with one Republican and down the line asking which candidate the person on the phone would vote for if the election was between the two.  In EVERY case the winner was John Edwards!  Now isn’t this something that could motivate the Republican Dirty Tricksters’ to fraudulently program the voting card to favor either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?  I say it is.  It is so distressing that we cannot feel safe as Democrats to elect the best candidate to represent us.

Can we change the terrible course of history of the last eight years? I am hoping, praying and visualizing that we will be able to reinstate our country to its proper place of balance that has been denied us for so long. Let’s turn out in record numbers, vote from our heart, and keep the vision that which ever candidate is destined for the White House will honor the Presidency and lead us to restoring our dreams. My vote is for John Edwards.