If someone had told me 2 years ago, that I would STILL be interested in the upcoming election, I would have thought they were crazy and seeing Jesus in their soup. Here we are, a few weeks away from the most historic election of this country and I still dig around for more information. For the record I DO NOT get my news from TV or their websites, but I do read websites from a lot of different directions, including international. I always thought that John Edwards would be in the middle of the fray, but he messed that up didn’t he? I think that Hillary will make a great Senate Majority leader or a member of the cabinet, because she has the skills and passion to hold that torch. Joe Biden has the international political experience that rounds out a potentially great administration.
I give. You can see that I am tipping my hand don’t you, you know that my vote is going to be cast for Barack Obama. This decision wasn’t made on a whim. When Barack Obama came to Seattle to give his speech way back in the spring, I had not decided who I was going to vote for. However when I watched that speech and heard the substance of what he had to say, I was persuaded. But let’s go back in time a few years. When I watched the Democratic convention in 2004 and Barack gave his keynote address, I remember thinking that this man could be our president one day. Little did I know that it would be so soon. At this point I feel just a teensy bit bad for Hillary since she has worked her ass off for several decades to occupy the White House as it’s main resident, not the first wife. I think she would have made a great president or a vice president, but I’m happy with our choices.
A few years back I didn’t know the difference between pundit and house whip mostly because I thought government was too big to think about and I simply didn’t care. Now I care. Sweet Husband and I always have this conversation wondering if this happens to everybody, where one day you don’t care about what is going on around you, then something clicks and now you feel compelled to become educated. We wonder if our parents went through the same process? Is this part of being a grown up? At 50 I’d guess so.
My point is, I have made a conscious choice to know what is happening to our country. Now more than ever I feel that the choices that we make during this election will have far reaching consequences. We are not only voting for a president and his running mate, we are setting the direction of this country. When looking in the rearview mirror I do not like what I see. I do not want someone like me running the country. (runnin around droppin my ‘g’s) I want the most educated, progressive, people-first person available and I see that in Barack Obama.
I did something yesterday I’ve never done. I went to the Democratic Headquarters and got yard signs and bumper stickers. I have always been sort of an accidential voter, but now I do it on purpose.
I leave you with this one thought, “If we have ‘always done it that way” only means that we’ve may have been doing it wrong for a long time”.
It IS time for a change! My name is blog-o-licious and I approve this message.
Filed under: political
As you know policitcs never quite made it to the dinner table for conversation in our house when we were kids. I know our parents voted but they did not discuss. I have made my choice but I’m keeping it to myself. I don’t answer the phone calls in the evening from the polsters who just want to ask a few questions. My ballot is private and it’s going to stay that way. Thank you!
Rich and I have had several conversations about this subject. I had made up my mind long ago, due to that 2004 speech you refered to, amongst other thoughts, but Rich is still looking at what he wants to do and is adamant that nobody will tell him. Rich likes to get my father going. Just the mention of politics starts the debates. When I lived at home, my parents did talk about who and what. I was allowed to listen, but “you can’t have an opinion because you are a girl”. Not the best way to get an interest in politics, but it worked.
I made my decision, as a first time voter, I hope it is a good one. I find McCain to be quite freaky and he seems to be a pet of Bush’s. I seriously do not know where this guy came from, to my knowledge he can’t make up his mind which party he wants to run for every time he ran for pres? I have been watching footage of the election and it has come to my attention that some hateful citizens do not want to vote for Obama because, “he is Arabic”. I don’t care if someone was a martian and ran for pres and won. As long as it is someone who can help us fix what is broken I am okay.
To add to that note, McCain seems quite respectful of Obama and he gets a kudos from me.
Jen, I’m so proud of you for taking the time to find out about the candidates and discovering who you want to vote for, based on YOUR decision.
That’s cool.
I wish I shared your enthusiasm for this election. I know it is important and I will be voting because I care about my future living in this country, but I just want this damn thing to be over. I am so tired of everything. Maybe because I have to deal with it at work all day and I see a whole lot more than they show and I am jaded to the whole process and sick of all the mudslinging. I need some of your excitement.