And I almost love this town when I'm by your side . . .

This week's column:

America's politicians fail to show leadership

Voters ought to demand more of their elected officials

I've said it before and I'll say it again: America is suffering from a lack of leadership by those in so-called leadership positions. We send men in dark suits and red ties to Washington with the hope they'll make better decisions, even though we have the sinking suspicion they'll disappoint us at nearly every turn. After all, we want decision-makers that have insight that we lack, even though no such person exists in this world. Sure, they have access to better research and might have more policy experience, but they still lack the ability to transcend the crippling bounds of human uncertainty. Where have all the Kennedys gone?

Nowhere was this crisis in leadership more clear than in Thursday's debate between Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush. Both candidates spent the 90-minute debate attacking the other's record and arguing past decisions instead of articulating a future vision for America. Because we are a democracy guided in part by the people's will, we want an executive with the ability to inspire the nation to become a better version of itself over four years. The apathy that is increasing in the electorate is a direct result of a lack of passionate visionaries at the reigns of government.

America has for too long contented itself with taking baby steps toward its goals, and the internal conflict between where we want to be and where we find ourselves is manifested in our increasing individualism. While the Founding Fathers understood our country to be a community of dissidents committed to a better life free from intrusion but not responsibility, we have evolved into a loosely connected group of people more interested in their own desires instead of collective ability.

So we end up with leaders who are arrogant enough to believe that we can change the global community without its help or assent, leaders who think that the United States is safest when we kill civilians instead of addressing the root causes of crime and terror. John Kerry has been to busy explaining why the Iraq war was a bad idea, something most of us already know, instead of telling us what he would do to help people inside our own borders who can't pay their medical bills.

Our current president uses the attacks on New York as justification for all sorts of ludicrous interventions around the world and on our civil rights. We're choosing between two backward-looking men who will double-talk us into voting what they've either already done or failed to do.

I think we are disillusioned with what our nation has become, and this sentiment is manifested in many aspects of our generation's culture. It's why we listen to music that's too loud and noisy, and why we love movies that depict human isolation like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The world is a confusing place, and if Mr. Bush can't tell us what's going on in the world and make it orderly again, then why should we be able to? More tax cuts for the middle class and cheaper oil aren't a vision for the future that's any different from the one that's gotten us in this mess.

There's a big difference between the ideologies of Sen. Kerry and Mr. Bush, so it's still a wise thing to go out and vote on Nov. 2 - are you registered? However, we need to hold our officials to a higher standard if we are to get anything other than more of the same in future campaigns.