Wednesday, Lafayette, Indiana

In an era of experts - and I qualify as an expert in some few areas- the danger is to presume that we have expertise beyond our reach. This is especially evident when it comes to politics. Most people have passionate opinions about their ideology, their candidates and their party. But in most cases their opinion is based on partial information, flawed conclusions and the blustering opinions of their small circle of similarly poorly informed friends and associates. In other words, we tend to vote using our gut more than our head. And the gut is an abysmal organ for judgement. The gut is what gets people to drink to excess, paint their faces at games and get into bar fights.

I have not really figured out what party I am most affiliated with - I like the compassion of the Democratic party as I understand it; I like the small government approach of the Republican party as I understand it. In the end I am most influenced by a combination of my gut feeling tempered with my intellectual judgement about the candidates I hear. And on this score I was a happy voter for Barack Obama, based on his intellect and pragmatic approach to decision making. This is also a strong reaction to the approach of George Bush who led almost exclusively using organs below his neck.

So I have a modicum of hope and optimism that the dire predictions about the economy in the coming year will be addressed assertively - and intelligently - by the new administration. I am praying fervently!