Last night, Incumbent President George W. Bush and Democratic Nominee Senator John Kerry engaged in the first debate of what I firmly believe to be the most important election in American history – and I loved every minute of it.

From the attacks, to the accusations – to the human exchanges – both men in my opinion shined – despite their drastic differences. With a handshake and a smile, two men who are vying for the most important and prestigious job in America stood less then ten feet apart on live television and told the world why they could do a better job as President then their opponent. Both President Bush and Senator Kerry, each with true conviction in their eyes and in their hearts – explained why they wanted to be President, why they thought their plan was better – and against the rules of the debate – put aside their political differences for a brief moment and talked to each other like a couple of fathers at a school picnic.

It was when Senator Kerry thanked President Bush for his personal comments about his daughters, where Bush thanked Kerry’s daughters for being, “so kind to my daughters in what has been a pretty hard experience for, I guess, young girls, seeing their dads out there campaigning.” To which Kerry responded, “I appreciate enormously the personal comments the president just made. And I share them with him. I think only if you’re doing this – and he’s done it more than I have in terms of the presidency – can you begin to get a sense of what it means to your families. And it’s tough. And so I acknowledge that his daughters – I’ve watched them…I’ve chuckled a few times at some of their comments.” After some forbidden audience laughter, President Bush responded by saying “I’m trying to put a leash on them.” Which concluded in Senator Kerry saying, “Well, I know. I’ve learned not to do that.” I admire the fact that these two men, who are playing the ultimate “reality show competition” to win their ultimate “dream job” were able to – if only for a moment – interact as fathers instead of opponents.

As for when they acted as opponents, Kerry was the first one to come out swinging, accusing President Bush of misleading the American public with regard to Iraq. “Iraq was not even close to the center of the war on terror before the president invaded it.” I have to admit that when I heard Senator Kerry use the word “invade” – both my stomach and my chin hit the floor. And if that was not shocking enough – my heart stopped when I heard him say, “To save for Halliburton the spoils of the war, they actually issued a memorandum from the Defense Department saying, ‘If you weren’t with us in the war, don’t bother applying for any construction… that’s not a way to invite people.’” I have seen the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 and plan to write an extensive column on the whole Halliburton issue – but that is for another time. My shock at that statement was because I was amazed that John Kerry had the courage to stand next to the President of the United States of America and in front of the entire world and accuse the President of reaping personal benefits off of the war in Iraq.

On November 11, 2001, I had the honor of escorting the Presidential delegation to Ground Zero for President Bush’s second visit to the sacred site. In the memo I received from my supervisor, David Longshore dated November 9th, it stated that on the day of my tour, I was to, “report to the corner of Canal and West Streets, and provide an escort to West and Liberty Streets for members of the Presidential delegation. In keeping with your usual high-degree of professionalism, please provide them with whatever assistance they require…Thank you.” At the end of my tour, as the President was about to enter his vehicle after shaking hands with dozens of recovery workers, I hoped to shake his hand, so I said, “Excuse me, Mr. President?” Immediately, George W. Bush turned to me and said, “Yes?” For at least a second, I gasped – because I had the attention of the leader of my country, the man in charge of protecting my liberty and my freedom – and the person who is considered to be the most important political figure in the world. After the eternal one-second pause, I said, “I am honored to have you as our President.” – something I meant at the time. With an appreciative look, President Bush said to me, “And I’m honored to be your President.” When I approached President Bush, I had nothing but good intentions as to what I would say to him – but was still incredibly nervous. That’s why when John Kerry went at the President with statements like, “Saddam Hussein didn’t attack us. Osama Bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us. The President’s father did not go into Iraq…and the reason he didn’t is, he said – he wrote in his book – ‘because there was no viable exit strategy.’ And he said our troops would be occupiers in a bitterly hostile land – that’s exactly where we find ourselves today.” – I was in awe of his confidence, impressed by his ability to hold his own against this great nation’s Commander-In-Chief – and walk away from the first of the three Presidential debates the clear winner among most politicos and pollers.

As I stated before, this is by far the most important election in human history in my opinion. More is at stake now in our lifetime than ever before. In the last four years, we have gone to war in Iraq that has already cost us thousands of lives and billions of dollars. We are still without nationwide healthcare, lower unemployment and higher interest rates. We live in constant fear of another “9/11” and have developed a color coded chart to measure the level of our nation’s paranoia – and we lost over four thousand people on the blackest day in the history of the greatest nation in the world.

In no way am I fillibusting for a particular candidate – at least not yet – I am simply stating that all 281,421,906 United States citizens over the age of eighteen need to come to the voting booths and pull the lever for the candidate of their choice. I don’t care if they vote for Incumbent President George W. Bush, Democratic Candidate Senator John Kerry, Reform Party Candidate Ralph Nader – or Concerns Of People (Prohibition) Party Candidate Gene Amondson – I just care that they vote. When George W. Bush ran against Vice President Al Gore – the decision as to who would lead, “The Land Of The Free And The Home Of The Brave” came down to only 302 votes. Each of us, from the moment we leave our front doors to go to work to the moment we enter them at the end of the day see more than 302 people throughout the course of our workday. From the people you sit with on the train to the guy that sells you your morning cup of coffee – to the person you flip off for passing you on the highway – imagine if each and every one of those people decided not to vote in the last election. If they did – George W. Bush would not be President.

F.Y.I. – the next Presidential debate will be held on Friday, October 8th at 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Please watch, and learn – and vote.