Hope vs. Fear

Ann-Marie Luciano Bio

Nothing could illuminate the steadiness of Barack Obama's message of hope and change better than John McCain's dizzying campaign of fear and innuendo. It is pretty incredible that for all of McCain's talk about the "unknowns" of Obama's judgment, the past 20 months of campaign seem to have shown us that we can never really know the true John McCain, since who he is changes with the day and the polls.

It really has been astonishing to watch the McCain campaign unravel since their convention. A campaign once grounded in "Straight Talk" and full and thorough access by the press has morphed into a shadow of its former self: "Straight Talk" has been replaced with negative "ads" that have been described as outright "smears" and "lies" and the Vice Presidential candidate has been hidden away from the inquiries from the most serious media outlets.

Whenever I listen to a McCain or Palin speech (I'm a news junkie even for the bad news), I find myself waiting to hear the positive message. Over the past few weeks, the McCain campaign message has been Why You Shouldn't Vote for Obama rather than Why You Should Vote for McCain. Does anyone really know anymore whether McCain/Palin have a positive vision for the future? If they have one, I haven't been able to hear it through all of the noise about Socialists, palling around with terrorists and Joe the Plumber. After their first attempt at negative ads with Bill Ayers caused them to drop in the polls even further, I thought maybe McCain would go back to his Straight Talk and start talking about the issues on the merits again. Apparently his campaign has taken over the candidate, because there is no sign left of the old John McCain.

When the news flips to a few minute clip of an Obama speech, I often find myself coming to tears, filled with excitement and hope about the great things that could happen if he is elected. Obama's speeches are all about what he will do for Americans. His focus is on explaining to the American people what he wants to do to improve our lives and livelihoods. The contrast is so clear to me. If Obama is elected, I hope we will turn a new page in election politics to a time when leaders lead with hope rather than rally mobs with fear.

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