I am neither a registered Democrat nor Republican, but rather an Independent who has voted in every Presidential election since I first was eligible in 1988.  I actually voted for a Bush for President once, though not the one who got in as a legacy.  I give this disclaimer to show that I try to think for myself and am not a dogmatic follower of either major political party, both of which I fear are run by corrupt and extreme elements that are out of touch with the mainstream, in hopes that maybe you may give what I have to say some consideration and not write me off as a “Liberal” whatever that means.

I urge those of you who voted for McCain to stop drinking the hateraide, keep and open mind and give the man and the country a chance.  Although the country is in terrible shape, Obama at worst is far less of a concern than W was Eight years ago.  When W first took office, many Americans (myself included) were repulsed, partly because W was unqualified and seemingly unintelligent, but also because of the circumstances.  For a country that often monitors elections in third world countries to safeguard the democratic process and prevent elections from being stolen, we found ourselves wondering whether the time had passed when we could accept as a given the fact that America worked differently and we could have faith in our election results.  I think that had a lot to do with the hatred that ensued for Bush and the Republican party– the notion that they stole the election and we lost dignity as a nation.

Even though I feared the worst for this Country’s direction after the election given what I viewed as W’s biggest infirmities – a lack of intelligence, a lousy track record and lack of judgment (he even traded away Sammy Sosa as a young player) and the sense that he was too packaged and lacked any real substance – I kept an open mind and hoped he would not damage our country too badly.  Maybe it would be a quiet 4 or 8 years and he would surround himself with intelligent people to run things while he rode his bicycle and worked on his diction.  The next 4 years were, of course, a disaster, and I am not just talking about 9/11.  Apart from the entire issue of whether W failed to prevent the attacks because he was too busy vacationing in Crawford, he made a critical and terrible mistake in starting a war in Iraq that we could ill afford economically, politically, diplomatically or morally. This is a kind assessment given that there is a great deal of evidence to suggest Iraq was not a function of mistaken intelligence assessments and instead about W showing the world that he was the new John Wayne and no one tried to kill his daddy and got away with it.

There were other problems with W-1, but the lack of judgment demonstrated on Iraq (or malfeasance depending on how you look at it) was reprehensible and upsetting  — how could our country repeat the mistakes of Vietnam, waste American life on a civil war, further escalate tensions in the Middle East, and waste so much money that could be put to so much better use?  I did not need any more evidence – W had to go. So I put my money where my heart was and for the first time became active in an election, and paid my own may to volunteer as a voting rights attorney in Florida in 2004 to prevent voter intimidation.  Maybe I should have been in Ohio where it seems the election again was stolen.

I was devastated after the 2004 election.  I hated what we had done as a Country.  I was ashamed.  Not only had we elected someone who was completely in over his head as we had in 2000, but now it was worse because we had a 4 year track record validating that fact.  I was in shock and demoralized. How could nearly have the electorate disregard the prior 4 years and give Bush an additional 4 years to make things worse?

So for those of you who voted for McCain and are demoralized because Obama won, welcome to my world circa 2004.  I know how you feel.  But I will not gloat, though I admit not understanding the attraction to McCain (although I do of course understand the attraction to Palin).  Instead, I will try to make you feel better.

Unlike 4 years ago, where there was a terrible track record against which to indict Bush as a horrible President, that is not the case with Obama.  Perhaps the greatest criticism of Obama is that he is new to the Senate and thus inexperienced.  But why is that such a terrible thing?  Are you better off than you were 4 or 8 years ago?  (If you are, then you are probably about to be indicted for some crime, in which case I would be happy to defend you). The country is by all accounts in terrible shape.  This was not the doing of Barack Obama.  If anything, it had much more to do with John McCain – not because he may have voted for and supported Bush proposals most of the time – because he has been in Congress for nearly 30 years and deserves as much blame as any other institutionalized politician.  So cut Obama some slack for not having grown old in the Senate like McCain.

Unlike 4 years ago, we at least elected someone smart and who has devoted much of his life to helping others and to public service.  Obama was the Editor of the Harvard Law Review – Bush nearly flunked out of Yale.  Obama worked his way up from a grass roots community organizer to a United States Senator on his merit – Bush entered politics after failing as a baseball executive and losing money in Texas oil, which is quite an accomplishment in itself.  Obama is self made, whereas Bush is the spoiled rich kid who is handed everything.  Who is more representative of what this country stands for?

Unlike 4 years ago, we broke with the mold of what a President is supposed to look like and elected someone not old and White.  This is progress for all of us.  If you do not agree, I suggest you stop reading and start wearing a white sheet over your head and burn a cross on your lawn.

The bottom line is this:  you have much less cause for concern than many of us did 4 years ago when we returned the Presidency to someone who already had pissed on the rug, broke all the china in the White House and lacked basic common sense regarding the realities of war and the difficulties we would face in Iraq. And yet, we survived, just barely.  So give Obama – and the Country – a chance before drinking the extremist anti-Obama hateraide.  After all, would you rather be wrong and see things improve or be right and see things get worse?

Michael is a defense attorney specializing in white collar criminal litigation,in Los Angeles having recently relocated from New York City. I am a graduate of Brandeis University ‘89 and Fordham law 94.