Freedom's Fire, Brightly Burning

I'm a bit late posting about John Kerry's endorsement of Barack Obama for President (yeah, I've been neglecting this blog lately), so I'll just cross-post here what I just posted in a comment at KerryVision - some thoughts on what is so great about this endorsement, to me. This comment is inspired by Kerry's appearance on ABC's This Week this morning (video available at ABC now - hat tip, KerryVision).

I really am proud of how John Kerry strongly promoted his candidate, Barack Obama, without bashing the others. I love that he said he "will fight like crazy" for whoever is the nominee, and that any of Clinton, Edwards, or Obama will lead this country in the right direction.

I am most proud of the argument he made for Obama - about Obama having the potential to be a transformational leader, restore this country's moral authority, and begin to heal the partisan divide that is tearing this country apart.

I so wish I could campaign and vote for John Kerry for President this year. But with an endorsement like that - not just the fact of endorsement, but the rationale for the endorsement and the passion behind it - I can wholeheartedly support Barack Obama, and know that we are all working together for what is right and best.

I'll just add that I don't agree with all of Obama's positions, but I think he is the strongest of the candidates in some areas that I value highly, for example open government and engaging citizens in the political process, and restoring America's credibility. I think his approach of bipartisanship and negotiation to achieve progress on democratic principles, will be more effective in actually making the kind of progress I want to see, than the approaches of the other candidates. And that's really what it comes down to in the end - who will do the job the best? I agree with John Kerry that Barack Obama is the answer to that question for 2008.