Barack Obama is MY President

After George W. Bush defeated Al Gore, and later John Kerry, for the presidency, countless Democrat-owned cars bore bumper stickers with clever phrases like 'Not My President' or 'Don't Blame Me I Voted for Kerry'.

As a conservative evangelical Christian who voted for McCain-Palin, and for every other Republican on the ballot yesterday, let me say for the record: Barack Obama is my president.

I stayed up past midnight to watch his victory speech. I wept (a little less than Jesse Jackson) because the moment stirred me with gratitude for how God has thus far corrected America's most crippling birth defect -- racist discrimination.

I take my president-elect at his word when he says to those who didn't vote for him: "I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too."

Mr. President, the best thing you can do for us is to lead a new generation to live out the American dream as you have. In other words, President Obama, I pray that your example will serve to create a wave of citizens whose lives follow your own storyline.

This would produce an America comprised of people who...

* can choose where to school their children (as your Mom chose private school for you),
* work hard to achieve their goals,
* dedicate themselves to lifelong learning,
* marry persons of the opposite sex and remain faithful to them,
* bear living children and bring them up in a two-parent home,
* take advantage of free markets and their own skills to earn money,
* negotiate their own compensation,
* manage that money responsibly,
* demonstrate a willingness to serve our nation.

Mr. President, while your official policy statements envision a nation very different from the one that produced your extraordinary success story, I know that you're still relatively new to civic life and you seem willing to learn. You strike me as a quick study, who can really make a difference when he sets his mind to it.

Leaders tend to attract people who are like them, and to inspire people to emulate them. Sometimes it's hard to recognize the factors that have shaped our own existence. Take a moment to consider how your life exemplifies the principles that have made this nation great.

What we need now is not policies to implement your stated ideology. We need for you to recognize the true power behind your own inspiring story.