The key in any election with a sitting president is the incumbent himself. This election is, then, a referendum on whether President George W. Bush deserves to retain his job.
The answer is "No."

This answer has nothing to with whether we as individuals or a nation like the president, because we clearly see him as a decent, compassionate, caring man. He loves his nation, his family and his God. He led us through a terrible time in our nation's history. He led us face to face with the enemy in Afghanistan and we gladly followed. He was the right man in the right place at the time.

But then, somewhere between the terrible attack on Sept. 11, 2001 and today's developing military quagmire in Iraq, something in the presidency of George W. Bush went terribly awry.

The president went from a strong, resolute leader who had global sympathy and support for fighting a war against terrorism, to a stubborn isolationist with an inability to unite the country, explain the rationale for sending troops to Iraq, or inspire confidence in his military leadership.

We have to ask ourselves if the path on which we stand today with President Bush is the right path to continue on the next four years. Again the answer is "No."

It is time for a change in the White House. The Times-Herald urges a vote on Tuesday for Senator John Kerry.

Any time you boot an incumbent and hire a new president, a leap of faith is taken. Truth be told, we cannot know with certainty what kind of president John Kerry will be. But we do know what kind of president George W. Bush has become.

President Bush has developed a rather simple, narrow view of global issues, and an arrogant, belligerent foreign policy that comes with it. It amounts to "shoot from the hip, drop democracy amid the abused masses, and the world will shine anew."

Such a simplistic view, no matter how resolute, has failed to set a course for success in Iraq. Put that failure with the lack of accountability in the president's administration - the failure for anyone to admit to and be held accountable for mistakes - and the president's steadfast loyalty to staff liabilities such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who brought us the Abu Ghraib disaster, and you have a view of an administration lost.

The president's administration of today lacks moral authority. It lacks fiscal responsibility, having inherited a record budget surplus and brought us a massive federal budget deficit and spiraling national debt while offering no recourse.

Our youth fear the draft, our elderly fear for Social Security, and countries overseas cower at the thought of who we might invade next. The president has made too many enemies here and abroad to retain any authority or respect as leader of the world's greatest global power.

The president was right to start the war on terror in Afghanistan. This newspaper supported that, and continues to support efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East. But all evidence shows President Bush was wrong not to finish up there, and to divert his attention to an unnecessary war in Iraq. Iraq is more of a mess - and a threat - to us than it was before the invasion. It has become, since the invasion, a veritable haven for terrorists, stirring up the kind of hatred Osama bin Laden predicted would occur.

Moderate Arab leaders looking for some sort of democracy are tainted by their connection to us. And without providing enough troops to properly secure Iraq, the administration has strained the resources of our military, leaving us unprepared to handle another crisis in another spot of the world.

Are we safer? We are not.

On the other hand, since the three debates, voters have learned much about Sen. Kerry. He is a man whose has an intellectual grasp of global, complex issues. On a global level, we feel he can begin to heal the breach wrought against Old Europe after their refusal to jump to war when told to do so by America.

Sens. Kerry and Edwards do not have all the answers. No one or two people can. That is why the notion of an improved global alliance means not only improved military strength, but also greater intellectual strength.

Sen. Kerry's lifetime of service, from volunteering to go to Vietnam, to having the courage to question it, to reaching across the aisle in his work on balanced budgets, welfare reform and the foreign relations committee in the Senate (working with Sen. John McCain to restore relations between the United States and Vietnam), show that he is willing to ask the right - and the tough - questions.

Sen. Kerry can begin to restore our credibility with the rest of the world, which is right now at one of its lowest points in history. Our word can matter again. He can restore some of the principles of the Clinton economic plan, which resulted in record-setting job growth and deficit cutting.

He is proposing a health plan that, while we question his ability to fund it, isn't a giveaway to pharmaceutical companies.

On the domestic economic front, as president, Sen. Kerry says he will cut taxes for businesses that create jobs here in America instead of moving them overseas, and roll back the president's tax cuts, which even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says are glaringly tilted toward the wealthy.

Sen. Kerry vows to stand up for workers by enforcing our trade agreements.

Today, businesses are harnessing new technology to manufacture energy-efficient cars, high-grade steel, advanced plastics and other new products. This requires a bigger, skilled labor force to make them. Sen. Kerry promises he will invest in these jobs and invest in the people who will fill them.

We saw Sen. Kerry step up to the plate in three debates, able to articulate, focus and begin to inspire a country in doubt.

Performing well in debates, of course, is not enough. But Sen. Kerry has what appears to be a reasonable, viable, clear alternative to a lost administration. He has earned the chance, and President Bush - having sadly let so many chances for unity, shared heroism and economic opportunity slip away - has lost his.

We urge your vote for Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday.