Government is necessary for groups larger than two. We can do it by consensus or we can do it by the strongest person taking over.

If the strongest person takes over, we have monarchy, dictatorship. If we have monarchy, it's usually hereditary, so the next person serves involuntarily.

If we do it by consensus, we have three choices: we can agree to elect leaders to act on our behalf from a slate of volunteers (our current system), we can agree to draw names from a hat to determine who will be our leaders (lottery, like selecting for jury duty), or we can elect people based on who we think would be the best leaders without regard to their desire to serve (a draft). That's one method that's voluntary, and two that are not.

I said people should not run for office to satisfy other people. You said that people should not run to satisfy themselves either. I believe the way you put it was, "for the wrong reasons". I submit that if "the wrong reasons" are to enact policies that part of the electorate wants and part doesn't want, then that means no one who volunteers to run for office escapes the suspicion of running for "the wrong reasons". Someone will always think the reasons are wrong.

Seriously big ego is always involved in seeking a high leadership office. The right reason to seek office is a willingness to serve the people. The only wrong reason to seek it is doing it to serve one's self through breaking the law.

If one is unwilling to serve, then one is unwilling to serve the people. To force someone to serve under those circumstances guarantees that the job will be done poorly. Sometimes an unwilling person can be convinced to serve, but if there is no agreement, there is no service, only servitude.

You have your own decision to make and your own vote to cast. So do I. You make the case that Obama's desire for office is wrong because he wants it. I can make the same case for McCain, with more justification, since he has run before, if I thought that way.

But I don't, because I have politicians in my family. Sure, they seek office because it's gratifying to be chosen. Sure, they seek office because they think they're that good, and better than the others. But they seek office, basically, because they want to employ their talents to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Their talents are for leadership. That doesn't make any of them bad. Not even Barack Obama.

Vote against him because you don't like his ideas. Vote against him because you don't like his suit. Vote for McCain because he was a hero earlier in his life. Vote for him because you think his ideas are good. But please, don't try to tell a fish he's bad because he swims.