On Tuesday, American voters go to the polls to determine thenation’s course for the next four years and, ultimately, fordecades to come.

Voters are given a clear choice between President Bush andMassachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who, as the campaign has unfolded,have found little common ground.

Bush has proved to the nation he is committed to a safe andsecure United States of America.

In the aftermath of 9-11, the president rallied Americans andvowed to track down the terrorists responsible for the destructionand devastation our nation suffered.

He followed through, driving the Taliban from Afghanistan andcrippling the al-Qaida terror network to the point that in the lastthree years there has been not single attack on American soil.

The president also perceived a threat in Iraq and followedthrough on his promise to the American and Iraqi people to drivethe murderous dictator Saddam Hussein from power.

In both Afghanistan and Iraq, citizens are participating in theearly stages of a birth of democracy. And despite some mediareports in this country, their peoples are thankful.

But what would Kerry have done? From his own words we know heconsiders the opinion, criticism and hesitation of the globalcommunity as important – if not more so – than doing what is right.Kerry truly would have us sell out some measure of our sovereigntyto Europe and the rest of the world.

And if elected Tuesday, can we be sure that Kerry won’t cut andrun, leaving Iraq to fend for itself as he extracts American troopsfrom what he repeatedly calls “the wrong war at the wrong time”?Despite his assurances to the contrary, only president Bush has theresolve to stay until the job is done then bring our men and womenhome.

On taxes, Bush is the hands-down winner. The president has aclear record of promising, then delivering, tax cuts to theAmerican people. On the other hand, Kerry’s record shows he’sscarcely met a tax hike he didn’t like.

The nation’s economy is not built by taxing those who sustainit. Rather, sustained growth comes from letting American workerskeep their money to invest or spend as they see fit.

Unlike Kerry, the president is a straight-shooter. Agree ordisagree, you know where you stand with him because he says what hemeans and means what he says. Kerry paints a stark contrast,proving time and time again he is willing to say what he believeshis audience wants to hear, often making promises he must know inhis heart he cannot fulfill.

Kerry has promised to fully fund Social Security in perpetuity,offer all Americans the same health insurance available to membersof Congress and do other things that, on the surface, sound like aplum deal. The problem? Paying for all the Democratic candidate’spipe dreams would bankrupt the nation. It just isn’t feasible.While empty promises may win votes now, the consequences down theroad could be dire.

Kerry’s unabashed liberalism makes him, in our minds, anundesirable presidential pick.

Yes, Bush has made mistakes. We’d be kidding ourselves to thinkotherwise. But all presidents do, and at the polls Tuesday, votersmust remind themselves that our nation is in the midst of a globalwar on terror, in which the United States has taken the lead role.They must consider that our economy, after going through a roughpatch, is recovering, posting gains month by month and quarter byquarter. They must remember more Americans are working now thanjust a few short years ago.

For these reasons, we urge voters to stay the course andre-elect President Bush instead of changing horses midstream.