Looking for courage

By Jeff Long

To hear selected members of the media tell it, tomorrow night's U.S. presidential debate will be the most watched event in television history.

Classic hyperbole. I'm guessing more people would have seen the 1969 moon landing. I'm thinking more people were sitting in front of their TVs on 9/11.

Nevertheless, I don't doubt Americans will be intrigued by seeing the first face-to-face matchup between the two major contenders, one of whom will lead this country for the next four years.

Let's concede the point that many eyeballs will be tuned in to the debate. What will we learn that we don't already know?

It is estimated fully 90 percent of the electorate already have made up their minds on how they will vote Nov. 8, so this tete-a-tete at Hofstra University in New York is aimed at the tiny slice of the pie that is undecided.

I suppose I'm not much interested in their policy positions, because they may be lies or distortions.

In any case, events in the world well may make carefully constructed multi-point plans moot.

We don't pay for satellite or cable, so I'll watch on my laptop. (I enjoy hitting the pause button on my keyboard.)

An initial interest will be in how the two candidates treat one another. This will reveal character. It is one thing to bash your opponent at a rally; it is quite another to do it when he or she is standing yards away, looking you in the face.

Most of us shrink from confrontation, which is why we are far more likely to send an ugly text or a vicious email than lambaste a person verbally.

My surmise is you don't get to be the nominee of a major political party by being squeamish about the things that might make ordinary people uncomfortable.

The truth is no matter how much polls say they are disliked and distrusted, each candidate carries the hopes and dreams of others. That's a heavy load to carry.

I will be watching to see who bears this burden most conscientiously. I'd also like to see some authentic, honest-to-goodness passion for something -- other than simply getting elected.

And my heavens, if one candidate actually shows genuine compassion, that will be startling.

I suppose I'm looking for passion and compassion, among other things, on Monday night.

If you watch, try to concentrate on one thing you might see or hear that would be decisive for you as a voter.

Courage does it for me. I don't have heroes because people disappoint, but I've been reared to think Jesus of Nazareth is the only person worthy of being called my highest example. The New Testament shows us his compassion toward the sick, his passion for justice and his anger at injustice.

It is Jesus' essential courage, however, that catches my attention. As he stood silently before Pontius Pilate, the only man who could order his death by law, the Nazarene seemed calm and composed.

Taken aback, the Roman governor of Judea expressed his astonishment in a question: "Don't you realize I have the power to free you or to crucify you?"

Staring back, the penniless itinerant carpenter replied, "The only power you have has been given you from above" (John 19:10-11).

In the end, I'll be looking for courage tomorrow night. I'm not sure how courage might manifest itself in a 90-minute event, but if it happens, I'll know it.

Whatever it is you need to find, find it, and then prepare to vote. Please.

Everybody loses if people stay home. It can be a courageous thing to vote when your heart isn't in it, when you have grave doubts about both people. Taking a risk on one or the other is also a form of courage.