October 22

Tonight, from the swing state of Colorado, I have taken my first step as a political activist. I wrote a “letter to the editor” and sent it to newspapers in Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Grand Junction, Ft. Collins and Pueblo. Hopefully they’ll be negligent in checking my status as a local.

The letter I sent:
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Enough about jobs and jihads. The 2004 election has jolted a lackadaisical electorate to life but the political discourse it has generated has gotten repetitive. Bush calls Kerry a flaming liberal. Kerry alleges that the nation is a mess. But there remain crucial issues that neither candidate will mention and the media won’t probe.

What happened to the environment? Have we forgotten that this is our only planet? Conservationists among us cannot afford to let our attentions slip. Degradation of our world is often irreversible. If our government allows drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, for instance, we can’t go back.

What about policy’s relationship to science? Will next year’s policy directives be based on scientific findings or will our next president squelch the science that challenges his beliefs? As our trading partners become increasingly tech-savvy, this is an important question. Our next president must govern with his eyes open.

Our next president must be a skilled negotiator. He will face a diplomatically explosive relationship with the Muslim world and strained relationships with nearly everyone else. Blustering diplomacy could mean another war and more American soldiers bleeding into the sand. Our next president must be articulate and smart.
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We’ll see if I can hoodwink anyone into publishing it.