It is that time in the presidential election cycle that Americans start paying very close attention to what the candidates are proposing and promising. Each candidate has a plan, a vision for this nation. Through all the hype and spin, it ultimately comes down on our shoulders to determine who shall be the next president of the United States.

Our great nation comprises the most exceptional and diverse individuals the world has to offer. Together we are one, a nation above all other nations. I believe most Americans feel this way. So I was surprised when it seemed that the comments of Sen. Barack Obama’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, stating “God Damn America” were tolerated. That is, if you believe the polls.

Most Americans know and have a deep appreciation for the fact that no country has shed more blood, more treasure, so that others may be free, including ourselves. Therefore we have no business being ashamed to be Americans. Those who would wish for us to do so do not look at the country the same way you and I do. They have some “other” vision for America – something like a “hybrid” government of Europe, Cuba and Venezuela. Sorry, no thanks.

I may be only 39 years old, but I can still remember my parents complaining a lot about the direction of our nation in the late 1970s: high inflation, high interest rates and a government led by individuals with a serious lack of self-esteem who believed America’s best days were behind us. Who wants that again? To be led by a bunch of sad sack politicians apologizing for America’s “mistakes”? Sorry, no thanks.

We can do better than that. Again, I believe most Americans feel the same way. So you would think launching a political campaign in the living room of the domestic terrorist William Ayers should have opened America’s eyes about Sen. Obama. Yes, Mr. Ayers, a professor who subscribes to the “hybrid” government model or even worse. But alas, the polls tell us this does not matter either.

So what has finally changed the public perception of the Obama campaign? The Declaration of Independence and what it stands for: We Americans, who live in the greatest nation on earth, have the unalienable right endowed by our Creator to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” And this is precisely where the American voter in October 2008 started paying attention and threw the polls to the wind.

Why? Enter from stage right Joe the Plumber. By asking Sen. Obama his question, Joe was simply trying to determine if Sen. Obama was going to encourage or inhibit his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. And are we all not asking ourselves the same question?

This was a great opportunity for Sen. Obama to gain the confidence of an average American. For this man Joe is our father, son, brother or even ourself. At that very moment, Sen. Obama could have gained the confidence of the hardworking Americans who want to move up and into the next income level, improve their lives and those around them. He did not. Instead he failed the test.

Thank you, Joe the Plumber. Thank you for casting the long-needed sunshine on the regressive economic policies of Sen. Obama and the late 1970s. Economic policies that punish those not just making over $250,000, but all of us. Once again we have been reminded that the power of our government lies not with the Washington elite, but with the people.

Thank you for exposing how and what the mainstream media will do to any citizen who dares question this particular candidate. We have all been put on notice – ask the candidate a question that exposes his Socialist agenda, and you will pay the price.

Finally, thank you for having the guts to speak your mind – to Sen. Obama himself and the mainstream media.

Mark Willis of Dennysville is a former U.S. Army counterintellignce agent who served in Haiti and Bosnia. He works as a computer security consultant and raises Icelandic sheep.