President John F. Kennedy was a man of vision and leadership. In 1961, Kennedy challenged America by throwing down what likely seemed to many Americans an outlandish gauntlet.

Kennedy’s challenge seems simple by today’s standards — send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth within the decade. But in 1961 such a notion seemed extremely far-fetched.

Eight years later, Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the lunar surface and fulfilled Kennedy’s challenge.

Today, America needs someone like Kennedy again, to help lead the nation to succeed at an equally awe-inspiring challenge — breaking America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Creating a truly revolutionary energy plan for our country is on the hearts and minds of millions of Americans who have had to absorb huge increases in fuel costs over the last several months.

But it’s also a concern for America’s military leaders, too, which realize that one of America’s weakest links is that dependency on imported oil. It’s our Achilles heel. Sure, the government has strategic reserves in case of catastrophes — natural or manmade.

But think of the economic bedlam that would occur if America began experiencing massive gasoline shortages and prices shot up to $20 per gallon or higher.

America needs a plan to avoid this and we need it quickly.

Voters will head to the polls in a couple of months to choose a new president and they’d be wise to choose the presidential candidate that they believe can best cross political party lines and hammer out a way to fulfill the vision of tomorrow — a stable, diverse energy platform for America.