By now our country should be past race and that should no longer be regarded.

Our mind sets should be on the character, the innovative, the compassionate, the compatible and the communicative to elect our next president. A person’s skin color was inherited by no choice. However, his or her steps are developed by a parent or by both parents — trade, skill, and/or education.

When is the last time you ate potato chips or a cup of ice cream? When is the last time you used an iron? When was the last time you stopped or preceded through a street light? Have you ever used a blood bank or know someone who has?

Did you learn the name of the cook whose first encountered with war happened on the USS Arizona when he took the machine gun and took down four Japanese planes? Can you recite by memory the first man on the North Pole? Were you taught the man who synthesized the drug used for glaucoma?

Have you ever thought of which surgeon transplanted the first kidney from a mother to a daughter rather from twin to twin? Can you recall the surgeon who spoke at Ohio University who performed the first successful separating on babies who were physically connected? Who was a pioneer in open heart surgery?

What about the name of the person who worked for Alexander Graham Bell and designed the telephone? Do many miners know the name of the man who developed and used a mask to successfully rescue miners at Lake Erie? Think, who was sent to direct the military on the ground after Hurricane Katrina?

Certainly you have fast recollection of the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and Secretary of State. The majority of these people are noted by Kenneth Estell’s book African America — “Celebrating 400 years of Achievement.” This has continued to heightened the perceived lack of ambitiousness and achievements of all Americans.

I say this for you to realize the following:

Obama is a Christian and swore on the Holy Bible, not the Koran. That was a Muslim senator from Michigan. Obama is from Illinois.

Obama will respect the executive, legislature, and judicial branches, not like our current president. Sen. Obama has not been investigated for any ethics concerns, either in Illinois or in Washington.

Certainly he has been well vetted.

This foot soldier worked with Christian faith-based programs in the inner city — understanding the rural issues that very much parallel.

This dedicated family man is now called “elitist” by his opponents but he was at one time on food stamps with his mother and sister.

This man will say the Pledge of Allegiance and has led it in the U.S. Senate. He now wears a flag pin regularly, unlike his opponent. His plane does have a flag.

His opponent insisted Obama never sat down with General Petraeus and yet there is a picture of them in a helicopter flying over Iraq. His opponent has voted against many veterans’ issues of late and yet shows video of his war experiences.

Hillary and Bill Clinton have endorsed this candidate as well as Gov. Ted Strickland.

This gentleman’s campaign is being mimicked by his opponents. They are now claiming change. Obama and Sen. Biden have a great ground game that welcomes you to join them.

Go to Barack Obama’s Web site and find one close. In the meantime, as you use your skills, wear an Obama or Obama-Biden button whenever possible.