DENVER — It's hard not to get swept up by the convention here in Denver. As a student of politics, it's almost intoxicating.
In college, my passion for politics very nearly stole me away from my first love: the pen. In fact, for nearly four semesters, I seriously flirted with the idea of pursuing a career as a speechwriter. Peggy Noonan's musings about her years with Reagan and Bush were junk food for this diabetic political kid lost in the candy store.
But one disappointment after another steered me away from stormy partisan waters into the calm seas of journalism (relatively speaking, of course).
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There are two schools of thought when it comes to journalists and the democratic process. And the middle ground between them is as elusive as a straight answer. I had a professor in college who preached to me emphatically about the responsibility reporters (and editors) have to step up to the voting booth. He argued that with more information than the average voter, we had a duty to act on that and cast our ballot.
Later, near the start of my career, a grizzled old editor barked at me that under no circumstances should a journalist ever pull that curtain behind them. Objectivity remained sacrosanct, he preached, and something as simple as pulling that lever stained it beyond repair.
Nearly two decades later, this aging Gen X journalist still struggles with this manufactured moral dilemma. I've spent more than a few sleepless nights wondering what I'm going to do in November. But every morning, I wake up with the ghosts of history whispering in my ear, reminding me men and women from both sides of the aisle have fought and died for my right to cast a ballot.
I'm told it's why we're still in Iraq. So why am I still on the outside?
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