At this point it's pretty clear that there is, in fact, a difference between Republicans and Democrats. Compare the last eight years with the previous eight years and you get the picture. It's true that as a Democrat it's hard for me to fathom how anyone could still support the Republicans at this point, and I'm sure most Republicans would rather shoot me with their constitutionally protected handguns than admit that Bush has done anything wrong. But what we have in common is that we have a consciousness about the situation the country is in and have an opinion about it. While there is a lot of room for argument about how best to solve the country's ills, there really is no argument about the diametrically opposed philosophies represented by the two parties. As we saw in the primaries, there can be a lot of arguments among people that essentially agree with each other about what the problems are. But this is the difference: Democrats acknowledge that there are problems. Anyone who's still a Republican at this point must feel that everything is hunky-dory, that the situation in Iraq is great, that the economy is fantastic, that everybody who died as a result of the government's incompetence after Hurricane Katrina deserved to die. If you're still a Republican you have no worries.

The point being is that when it comes to this election there's just not a lot of room for nuance. There's a war on, and not just in Iraq. We don't have the luxury of agonizing competing philosophies right now. If you like the way things are, vote for McCain; if you want change vote for Obama. Obama was not my first choice, and I know McCain is not the first choice of many in the other party. But the stakes are too high right now for agonizing; that's what the primaries were for, and they're over. The contrast is stark, and we have a great responsibility in November. What I don't understand is how anybody could be undecided about this. Do you like the war? Do you like your local schools? Do you like your health plan? Are you assured that the criminal justice system works equally well for all citizens? Do you think the government and big corporations are doing enough to stave off the effects of global warming? If you answered yes to all those questions, vote for McCain; if you answered no to even one of them, vote for Obama.

While I don't understand how any thinking person could still be a Republican, at least I have more respect for them than I do for Democrats whose queasiness about Obama is making them consider voting for McCain. What criteria are they using? Do they not understand what's at stake here? And if you're a Republican considering abandoning your party, I say: what are you waiting for? Look at the last eight years. The party that was all about America First, about flaunting our military and economic superiority, has squandered the former and flushed the latter down the toilet. Eight years ago we were the world's only superpower; where's our power now? Who else can you blame but the ruling party?

What a lot of Americans seem to forget is that the power of democracy is historically more significant when used as a negative act than a positive one. Look at Zimbabwe; the power its citizens were trying to retain was the power to oust Mugabe. The opposition was just that; the candidate himself wasn't as important as the idea of opposition. Remember that Hitler was democratically elected; can you imagine hemming and hawing about voting for the guy who ran against Hitler?

But, you say, in 1933 people didn't know how evil Hitler would turn out to be. I will grant that the Republicans are not as bad as the Nazis, but we do not have the excuse of not knowing how bad the Republicans actually can be. Bush did not act alone: his entire party helped to enact his policies. Obama is not alone, either. The Democrats may be a mess, but they're not the Republicans. We need a different mess right now, one that will end the war and hold corporations responsible for wrongdoing and at least try to bring some truth to the lie called No Child Left Behind. Don't think of Obama as a man; think of him as an opportunity to create solutions to America's problems, problems that haven't even been acknowledged for the last eight years.

Or vote for McCain. But get out of the middle of the road and let us pass. It is worth no one's time to try to read the minds of people that clearly have no mind to begin with.