Thursday, November 6, 2008

New Beginnings

Normally I take a fairly cynical perspective regarding politics. I generally think the worst and expect the worst of politicians. This election season has been no exception. But today I feel something different and it's caught me a bit off-guard.

I feel hopeful.

As I listened to President-Elect Obama give his victory speech and Senator McCain give his amazingly gracious concession speech I was overcome with feelings of optimism and pride. I am proud because more citizens voted in this election than in any in the past 44 years. I am proud because we elected a black man to be President. I am proud because Senator McCain, despite the political divide, chose to lead his constituency (at least that night) to unity as Americans and to pride in our newly elected President. I am proud because President-Elect Obama publicly recognized his defeated opponent as a commited servant of these United States who has made sacrifices we should all pray we never have to make.

And I feel optimistic. I can't say why. I just know deep down that things are going to get better. And I feel like I want to be a part of it. I want to help.

Monday, November 3, 2008

So My Mind Is Made Up!


So I was having a really hard time making up my mind who to vote for but now John McCain has made it up for me. And how did he manage this feat? By choosing the one person less qualified than our current president to be his running mate. I like McCain and I like Obama. Generally speaking I think either man would make a fine president. But the thought of Sarah Palin being one heartbeat (or heart-attack) away from the presidency is just more than I can stomach. So I'll be voting for Barack Obama tomorrow.

I'm not going to lie to you: I voted for W. in 2000. And the really embarassing part? I did it because he seemed like he would be more fun to hang out with than that uber-bore Al Gore. I was young and naive but back then I felt like what this country really needed was some good old-fashioned Joe-Six-Pack common sense. I was wrong. What we needed then and now was someone who could make measured, calculated decisions based on available data; someone who wasn't too blinded by ideology to see the facts as they were/are. Obama can do that, McCain can do that, but Palin strikes me as someone who would make most decisions based on her ideology and gut instinct. Just like W.

Now Palin isn't running for President, McCain is. But McCain is an old man and there is a chance that he could die in office. If there were a way to guarantee that he would survive his term(s) in office my decision would be a lot harder. But given that nothing in this world is certain but death, the decision becomes depressingly simple. I'm voting for Obama.