Well, we are almost there — just days away from the most important political choice of our lifetime.

The entire country has experienced an epic two-year campaign where the two standard-bearers for their parties each beat the odds to get this close to the finish line. Any appreciative American applauds the strength of character shown by both candidates.

We need not agree on the very different policies and proposals, Republican and Democrat. But in tipping our hats to John McCain and Barack Obama, we honor the dynamic experience we call democracy and we perpetuate the promise of freedom.

It is not hard for us to recognize that one of these men, John McCain, not only survived a wartime prison camp, but returned to America with the ambition of serving his country for the rest of his life. Nor is it hard for us to understand that Barack Obama translated the Hawai'i lesson of strength in diversity into a lifetime commitment for the democracy that gave him a chance. What is the common cause of John McCain and Barack Obama? They decided above all else to give back to their country.

This is an important election because critical problems abound following eight years of a Bush presidency. The national debt has doubled during his term. We've gone from a $700 billion surplus to a half-trillion-dollar deficit.

We are waging two wars. Our oldest international friends doubt our leadership. The number of Americans without healthcare has grown by 7 million. We are further away than ever from energy independence. And we are now digging our way out of a financial disaster of historic proportion.

So it is not surprising that most Americans are looking for the candidate who has substantive plans to guide our country on all these fronts. Voters across the country are looking for the candidate who understands what we are going through and talks to us about it.

At every corner, it has been Barack Obama who has thought through the issues we face as individual families and as the family of America and talked them through with us. He has been clear, compassionate and steady. He has presented a full and comprehensive case to the American people of what we can do together if he is elected president.

A turning point in the campaign occurred in March, when the issue of race threatened to distract and divide the country. In one of those moments that could have brought out the worst in us, Barack Obama defined his own leadership style, talked to us as a people and moved us forward. This was not the noisy, thrust-and-parry, sound bite politics as usual. It was Barack reminding us about the impact of racism. It was a quiet moment for us to listen, relearn the value of respectfulness for others and actually do better as a result.

In the few days left until Americans from 50 states enter the polling booths, we will all find our own way of determining what matters most in electing our nation's leader. Some may find it useful to attack the presidential candidate they oppose into the waning hours. This attitude reflects considerably more on the one doing the attacking than on the one being attacked.

Our campaign prefers to talk about how we will change this country, get ourselves back on track and build the future of our choosing.

With Barack Obama, we offer the country a candidate with solid plans and programs to change things for the better for American families. We offer a leader who has extraordinary respect internationally and who can build the alliances needed for a safer and more collaborative world community. We have a person who knows the strength of diversity, the value of hard-working Americans and the unlimited potential of the next generation. And with pride we can say that we will have a president who knows and loves Hawai'i and who will never need a briefing to understand our Island issues.

Chuck Freedman is the cofounder of Hawai'i Draft Obama. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.