Mike Keneally:Letter From MK

Letter from MK -
2:45 PM Oct. 8 2004

Let's talk about energy.

I think a lot of us were pleasantly surprised at John Kerry's performance in the first presidential debate. Much of the pleasant surprise I personally experienced was mainly RELIEF. There was so much doom-predicting from Democrats in the weeks leading up to the debate, it seemed almost miraculous that Kerry was in any kind of fighting trim at all. Maybe it fired him up, and in that maybe it was a good thing after all, but Kerry had to put a lot of energy in the first debate into battling expectations - making the most out of the negative energy being generated by his putative supporters, climbing up on top of it somehow, riding the wave and emerging with a very effective performance.

So, cool. Response to the debate indicates that he surpassed most expectations. In a few hours the second presidential debate will begin, several days after a wildly uninspiring vice-presidential debate. Tonight I hope to see a calm Kerry, confident enough to leave platitudes aside, discussing issues from the heart.

Here's what I'd love to feel in the next four weeks: the people in this country who are soul-starved for a change in leadership being effortlessly confident about Kerry's ability to win this election. That kind of thinking produces good energy which Kerry will hopefully feel. Energy is real stuff.

Then Kerry can relax, be the intelligent, thinking, feeling, unapologetically nuance-aware person that he is, and make America feel more confident about lining up behind him right now.

America is not feeling well these days. We can all feel it. Some of it is the after-effects of 9/11. But you'll recall that the energy in this country was incredible a few days following that attack: connected, resolute and with a feeling of real support from the rest of the world.

The majority of the crucial decisions made by the Bush administration since then have made this country unhealthy in a deep, spirit-wounding way. Bad stuff. We're sick, we know it, the world knows it.

Four more years of the same prescription can't be the right thing to do. John Kerry is the closest thing to a practical holistic remedy available at the moment. I know, Nader is talking about real things, but we have to take EVERYBODY'S well-being into account here. Even an observer as cynical as George Carlin said, the other night on Bill Maher's program, that John Kerry's performance in that first debate "opened a door," Cracks are being made in the status quo. These things take time. If Kerry is elected, and if his policies lead the country to ANY kind of more progressive and life-affirming position than where we currently find ourselves, we lay the groundwork for more forward-thinking options in the future. But we have to take the first step, and I can't think of a step in my lifetime which has felt more crucial.

Let me close by stating my love for this country, my gratitude that it allows me to express my opinions freely, my apologies to anyone offended by what I've written, my resolution that I can and will write whatever the hell I want to write on my own website, and my respect for each and every one of you. Play ball!

MK