Barack Obama is to your generation what John F. Kennedy was to mine. The youth and vitality, the charm and disarming smile, the sense of humor and powerful intellect are qualities shared by these men. One was white. One is biracial. We must get beyond our prejudices and vote our hearts and minds on the issues.

We know when we hear Barack Obama speak that he is inspirational and perhaps destined for greatness.

His messages of hope and change come when we need them most with our critical economic woes and our endless $10 billion-a-month war in Iraq.

He is the kind of pragmatic leader needed to unite the country as we tackle the problems of ending the war, energy independence, using renewable resources, investing in American industry and American jobs, making college more affordable, healthcare for all, trade agreements that benefit American workers, and sound economic and tax policies that reverse our country's fall toward economic ruin.

Unlike McCain, Obama is a unique candidate, not beholden to lobbyists and corporate America and the mega-rich. We must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to elect this special and gifted man to the presidency.

Cliff Cleland

DeKalb, Ill.