But by the content of their character

This post will be a little disjointed, as it is being written in-between speeches from the Democratic National Convention.

In this week's Newsweek there is an essay by Jacob Weisberg of Slate called "What Will the Neighbors Think?" which seems to be trying to make the argument that a moral imperative exists that we elect Barack Obama based, in large part, on the color of his skin.

Many have discoursed on what an Obama victory could mean for America. We would finally be able to see our legacy of slavery, segregation and racism in the rearview mirror. Our kids would grow up thinking of prejudice as a non factor in their lives. The rest of the world would embrace a less fearful and more open post-post-9/11 America. But does it not follow that an Obama defeat would signify the opposite? If Obama loses, our children will grow up thinking of equal opportunity as a myth. His defeat would say that when handed a perfect opportunity to put the worst part of our history behind us, we chose not to. In this event, the world's judgment will be severe and inescapable: the United States had its day, but in the end couldn't put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race.

He also drags out this hoary chestnut from the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary:

In the Pennsylvania primary, one in six white voters told exit pollsters that race was a factor in his or her decision. Seventy-five percent of those people voted for Clinton. You can do the math: 12 percent of the white Pennsylvania primary electorate acknowledged that they didn't vote for Barack Obama in part because he is African-American. And that's what Democrats in a Northeastern(ish) state admit openly.

...without noting that in the complementary case, the percentage of black voters who voted for Obama because he was black (or, in the parlance of pollsters, "who refused to vote for Clinton because she was white") was much, much higher. (Perfectly understandable and perfectly acceptable, according to one well-known columnist whose identity escapes me at the moment, who maintains that since Obama is the first black candidate to have a real shot at the White House, it is perfectly legitimate for black voters to vote their race.)

And what's this "Northeastern(ish)" crap? Dear fellow, get yourself a map. Pennsylvania is a Northeastern state. We are also the gateway to the South (via the Mason-Dixon line, which forms our southern border), the Midwest (via neighboring Ohio), and New England (via upstate New York.) But we are definitely Northeastern.

I reject the Moral Imperative argument. I reject arguments that suggest we should vote for a candidate because of his race. Forty-five years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in Washington, D.C. and spoke these words:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I will not vote for Barack Obama on the basis of the color of his skin. I will not vote for him out of some sense of entitlement, or out of some belief that having him in the White House will somehow balance the scales of our national history of racial inequality. I will not vote for him because I feel the weight of a Moral Imperative, or because I fear the critical judgement that other nations may make against our nation in the event of his defeat.

I will not vote for Barack Obama for any of these reasons.

I will vote for Barack Obama because I believe he is the better candidate for the job. I will vote for Barack Obama because I believe he will be the better President, the President we need to help us begin our recovery from what will be an eight year long national nightmare. I will vote for him because I believe his policies, his judgements, and his political decisions are vastly superior to his opponent's.

I will vote for Barack Obama because I believe he will put this country on a better path than the one it has been on for the last seven years seven months and eight days. I will vote for him because I owe my nephews a better future than the one George W. Bush's policies and programs have made possible for them. I will vote for Barack Obama because I believe in him and in what he promises for this nation.