Black Box Report

With only five days until Super Tuesday, when New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will have their say when it comes to our next president, it's time for me to get off the fence and stand behind my presidential picks.

On the Democratic side, voters have not been forced to pick a lesser of two evils.

Obama's abilities are obvious and his inexperience exaggerated. If elected, I believe he would more than make history, he would restore competency and leadership to the White House.

He, however, is not the best candidate. Hillary Clinton is.

While she cannot match his gift for speechmaking, or even inspiration, she is the most able and equipped candidate we have seen in years.

As a father of three young children, I choose my leaders with the future in mind as much as the present. The future worries me. Our next president inherits spiraling debt and major economic problems. We are a nation at war and our standing in the world is at its lowest in recent memory. Global warming, terrorism and a laundry list of challenges requiring leadership, innovation and, yes, compromise face our next Commander in Chief, and we don't have the luxury of on the job training.

I have covered Hillary as first a candidate then a senator, and she has made even skeptics converts with hard work and results. She will hit the ground running, knows how D.C. works and has been battle-tested. More than ever we need an adult sitting behind the big desk in the most important office in the world. Hillary Clinton is the right person at the right time.

On the Republican side, the options are less appealing. But one candidate at least has the conviction to say and stand behind what he believes in. That person is John McCain.

On many issues, including the war, I do not agree with the Arizona senator, but at least I know where he stands today and tommorow.

His courageous positions on immigration and campaign finance reform, despite the political consequences, and his record for putting principal above poll numbers is a constant with a person who has faced more than lifetime of adversity.

In a weak republican field, he is the best of the lot.