A Child Of Woodstock and a Regular Guy

Max Yasgar stood before about a half million people in 1969 on his farm at The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in upstate New York and proclaimed "I'm a farmer!" The throngs of people cheered that simple statement. If you look beyond those simple three and a half words (I think the contraction counts as 1.5 words) there is much more to be found. Those simple words seemed to be saying that even though he was just a regular guy standing on his farm before this huge crowd, something powerful was taking place. At the same time simply because they had joined together, they were all a part of creating a very special and magical piece of history.

Everyday we hear about some superdelegate having a press conference to endorse a candidate. We hear about who Oprah is voting for or who Elton John supports. We hear about politicians, athletes, actors, actresses, clergymen and a variety of other "celebrities" lending their support to one of the big three candidates. They must not understand that I don't really care who the cast of Friends or Marsha Brady is voting for. This election and our country must once again be about the regular person.

I am not a politician, a professional athlete, or a TV personality. I am not a televangelist, an actor, the author of a book about saving the world or a CEO of a multibillion dollar corporation. I want to steal a small piece of the energy and emotion that Max Yasgar helped create at Woodstock and proclaim "I'm a builder!". I spend a little too much time at a desk for my liking, but I still swing a hammer enough to maintain the tough hands and calluses I have spent many years creating. I guess I am a half white collar and half blue collar worker. If you are keeping score with dollars I am not rich but luckily I don't keep score with dollars. I am one of those regular guys caught in the middle with you.

Just like you, I have trouble sorting through the twisted tales and attacks from all sides. There are some things I might be a little bitter about and I don't apologize for that because those emotions are justified. I am working to change some of those problems and errors for the better. I don't care which politician is more astute at twisting words around or forgetting about the fact that there was no sniper fire. I don't care if your husband or wife said something stupid on the campaign trail. I don't care how old or young you are as long as you are on top of your game and you are a strong leader. I don't care what someone's angry minister said and I don't want to be responsible for my friend's or my minister's words or actions. Let's face it, we all screw up on a regular basis and our candidates are not exceptions to this reality.

When it comes to the challenging political situation that we are currently facing, I am sure of very little except for the fact that divided we are weak. This election is about finding a way to once again unify our country and inspire regular people to understand we need them to do their part. Unification and participation is the real issue and the answer. If we join together and get involved, there is no challenge big enough to stand up to us. So as you, the 'regular' voter decide, choose a president who can unify and inspire. We must always remember that our power is in our name- The United States of America.