This election perhaps is the most important of a generation. Deciding the path this nation is going to travel the next four years is yours and mine. I am worried that the passion of the baby boom generation is fading when it comes to picking leadership.

America seems to like to play it safe. We can’t. Boldness, the kind Abraham Lincoln possessed, the kind of courage Harry Truman had, is needed the next four years. Lincoln’s style of leadership was not always popular with members of his own party. He made the tough choices, regardless of what it meant politically.

Harry Truman was our nation’s leader when I was born. Captain Harry Truman served in the trenches of Europe in World War I. He was adored by his troops. He came home and was a haberdasher from Independence, Mo., who rose the ranks of Missouri politics and was chosen as FDR’s running mate.

He really didn’t want the job but he took it. He inherited the presidency in the cloud of the potential of the United States losing in World War II. He made the tough decision to drop the atomic bomb over Nagasaki and Hiroshima to ultimately end the war and save tens of thousands of American lives. Judge Dan Wynn, who lives in Cedartown, has written a great book called “Truman & Tibbets” about that flight in August of 1945 that changed the course of world history. It should be on store shelves soon.

Judge Wynn is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the war in the Pacific during World War II. Elections should be about leadership. Electing someone who can make the tough decisions. Someone who will keep our nation safe. You decide on Tuesday.

The first responders on the Atlantic seaboard are to be applauded for their diligence during Hurricane Sandy. I have an app on my iPad that shows live cameras around the world in real time. Seeing Time Square in New York City barren of traffic was a scary sight. The rain was so hard on the camera that looks at the Statue of Liberty was one giant blur for hours and hours.

The weather here got a bit more seasonal this week and we can look forward to Thanksgiving two weeks from this coming Tuesday. Email or write me your fondest memory of Thanksgiving. I’d like to share them with everyone.

I am working on remodeling the man cave. I asked Leanne Liner, who is a walking Yellow Pages and Clark Howard rolled into one being, about who I should call. She told me about Tony Jordon, who was born in Tallapoosa and has lived on 15 acres on the Tallapoosa River for years. Tony did a cracker jack job remodeling my bathroom. He is truly talented when it comes to making things look good. I was really impressed on how reliable he was when it came to getting to the task.

I have more things for him to do, like hang a disco ball and install a bowling alley in the basement. Don’t forget next Saturday is the annual motorcycle ride that Sammy Robinson puts together in honor of our veterans. Information is available at city hall.

Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Director of Special Projects in University Development at Kennesaw State University. Comments can be sent to P.O. Box 6, Tallapoosa, GA 30176 or via e-mail at rhubarbjones@aol.com.