When I think of what matters most to me, the basic answer is that I want to see America remain the world's superpower for the rest of my life. No nation can hold a monopoly on World leadership and at some point we will have to pass the torch to another nation to lead the World, but we should do it only when we are ready and not when we are forced to as a result of weakness.
To backtrack a little, I think of an article (I beleive written by Thomas Friedman) describing Europe's opinion of America. Friedman's conclusion was that the European opinion on America had soured not because of any particular issue or policy, but because America had lost the will to lead and inspire and instead had focused on bullying and coercion. Even when Europeans disagreed with us on any one issue, they always admired our idealism and values that had made the 20th Century the 'American Century'.
This idea was reinforced to me while reading General Tonny Zinni's latest book. He described a conversation he had with a Muslim friend after 9/11 in which his friend said something along the lines of "Your nation has every right to retaliate, and it should. But do not let your desire for revenge overwhelm your idealism. You don't know how much we need you out here." His friend was pleading for America to remain America, and not degenerate into a wreckless, arrogant superpower.
To put it simply, America needs to change course. This does not mean it inherently needs to have the change come from Democrats, although we will probably have to get the ball rolling. What America needs is a group of leaders that will put personal interests aside and inspire the World to combat the evil in all of its forms. This does not mean military action, although at times it does. What it means is American leadership on problems that afflict the entire planet and that no other nation has the will and resources to combat.
Issues like Islamic fascism. Issues like global warming. Poverty and AIDS in Africa, a lasting peace in the Middle East, securing the rights of women in oppressive countries, bringing real human rights and democracy to nations like Russia and China, managing rising standards of living with our planet's limited resources, finding cures to devastating diseases, and many more. None of these issues can be solved without a focused and sustained effort. And none of them can be solved by the barrel of a gun.
My greatest fear for our party is that Iraq causes us to retreat from world leadership and enter a quasi-isolationist state. That result could be worse than any military of strategic failure. What we need is principled leadership that doesn't seek out a fight but doesn't back down from one either. This is a challenge that is too big for one leader or one party to handle; only America working together can acheive these goals.
President Bush talks a big game about making America stronger but institutes policies that undermine it. After 9/11 there was no call to service, but a call to go shopping. When faced with rising gas prices there is no call for a sound national energy policy, but a call to drill for our limited resources and give more tax breaks to big oil. When faced with a globalized economy there is no dedication to improve worker training and help lift up working people, but a call for tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. All of these policies make America weaker at home, and when America is weak America cannot lead the world in the fashion that the World needs.
Our country and our world needs a change in direction. We may start the process by sending new leadership to Washington, but we can never allow ourselves to think that we have a monopoly on truth in this country. We need both parties working in harmony and not focused on playing political gamesmanship and 'gotcha' politics.
Ultimately, it's why I am supporting Jim Webb's candidacy so enthusiastically. It's not about any one issue or policy, but about a vision of America's place in the world and what we must do to lead and not command. We can't let the failures in Iraq deter us from taking a stand when necessary, but we need the wisdom to know when to stand and when to sit, when to use the carrot and when to use the stick, and when to use power and when to persuade. It is only when we find this balance can we truly lead the World.