When I personally endorsed Barack Obama in 2007 I wrote:
Barack Obama has shown leadership on the most pressing moral issues of our day – such as the war in Iraq and the global AIDS crisis. During his time in the Illinois Legislature and in the United States Senate he has demonstrated that his values cannot be compromised by prevailing political winds.
Christians, Jews, Muslims – all people of faith in America – share in a deep and abiding love for this nation. But many of us, as William Sloane Coffin would have said, have a “lover’s quarrel” with America. We know things can be better. We know all Americans need health care. We know that no one should be homeless in the world’s richest nation. We know that global warming threatens God’s own earth and that as the stewards of creation we are called forth to protect this planet. We are also called to be peacemakers in times of conflict.
Barack Obama shares these values and when elected president will embody them as he makes decisions in the Oval Office. When that day comes we will be a better nation.
President Obama has faced great difficulties - including the meltdown of the entire U.S. economy under President Bush and two on-going wars.
Today, President Obama, after beginning a troop draw down earlier in his term, announced that all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011. The decision is responsible. I continue to appreciate President Obama's moral leadership and I know my decision in 2007 to walk away from the democratic establishment and endorse his candidacy when he was 30 points behind was the right one.
