What Kind of People are We?

Charles Krauthammer has penned a great column pointing out to us all just how important next Tuesday's election really is.  He labels this election season, "The Great Campaign of 2010"   Among his observations:

What is the point of a two-party democracy if not to present clear, alternative views of the role of government and, more fundamentally, the balance between liberty and equality — the central issue for any democracy?

The beauty of this year’s campaign, and the coming one in 2012, is that they actually have a point. Despite the noise, the nonsense, the distractions, the amusements — who will not miss New York’s seven-person gubernatorial circus act? — this is a deeply serious campaign about a profoundly serious political question.

Obama, to his credit, did not get elected to do midnight basketball or school uniforms. No Bill Clinton, he. Obama thinks large. (This, by the way, is chief among the reasons why, although I vehemently disagree with him over just about everything, I can at least stomach Obama, but never Clinton.)  He wants to be a consequential president on the order of Ronald Reagan. His forthright attempt to undo the Reagan revolution with a new burst of expansive liberal governance is the theme animating this entire election.

To his credit, Florida Republican US Senate candidate Marco Rubio sees the election in much the same terms.  I saw him interviewed on one of today's morning shows for his reaction to the reports that Bill Clinton had lobbied Rep. Kendrick Meek, Rubio's Democrat opponent, to pull out of the race altogether in order to improve the chances of independent candidate Governor Bill Crist.  In the course of offering his opinion about the story, Rubio reminded the viewers that this election is not just about who'll be in charge.  Rather, it's about what kind of people we intend to be.

Amen to that!  You've got the weekend and a day to finalize your choices.  Don't waste the time. When Tuesday finally arrives, be ready, be eager, to pull the lever, punch the card, or touch the screen for the kind of people you think we ought to be.