Dear John:

It seems to me that our corner of the blogosphere, and punditry in general, have not given you enough credit for trying to cool down the heat of the US electoral debate.

The kindest of your opponents are criticizing you for saying too little, too late; the more cynical are framing your call for more mutual respect in the campaign as a ploy to position yourself as the voice of moderation and reason, while your attack dog Palin continues to infect the message with rage.

That may be true. But whatever the case, against considerable pressure, you stood up to those in your party who believe in victory at any moral or ethical cost, and you came down on the side of simple decency.

At the end of the day, a politician is a human being, and at some point human beings will act in accordance with their beliefs. I’ve read innumerable bloggers wondering what’s “wrong” with you, because you haven’t joined in the hatefest stoked by Palin and so many of your supporters.

I choose to believe that you’re an older man who may, in fact, have a sense of decency and honour from an earlier political era that is incomprehensible to some. That you don’t belief any lie, any smear, any contemptible tactic is acceptable, as long as it nets a point in the polls. That you’re sincerely trying to remind the American electorate that this is not Armageddon, a battle between Good and Evil, but simply the exercise of democracy. That Democrats and Republicans share 99% of the same political DNA. That your country is a mess, and that the sequel to this election lies years of governance and extremely hard work by all Americans, not a civil war.

If I’m naive in that belief, so be it. I guess I’d rather believe in possibility of a decent candidate than abandon hope altogether.

It may in fact be too little, too late: but what you said was the right thing to say. It took courage, and decency, and I applaud you for it, sir.

I just hope your message was heard by your supporters.

With sincere (provisional) respect,

Balbulican.

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