Vote for Obama Nov 4

I remember crying tears of joy in 1992 when Governor William Jefferson Clinton was elected President, ending 12 years of Republican rule in the Executive Office. I was just 15 years old then. It felt like the beginning of America for me. I have self-identified as a Democrat since I was very young. Yes, I grew up around Democrats, so you could say I didn’t know any better, but I remember watching the Iran-Contra affairs and watching the President and his friends lie on television about selling arms.

But Bill Clinton was a blip. In 1994, the Republicans engineered a takeover of Congress and though President Clinton presided over prosperous times for the country, concessions were made on welfare, health care and gay rights. In 2000, despite a government with a budget surplus and an economy in reasonable shape, the incumbent Vice President was not elected. I admit I was not a big Al Gore supporter. I supported Bill Bradley in the primaries. I indeed voted for Gore, afraid that the seemingly impossible scenario where George W. Bush would be a serious contender for the White had become possible. We all know how that ended.

A stolen election and a fear-induced re-election 4 years later, our nation is in tatters. Nearly broken economy, record foreclosures, stagnant wages, 2 wars to fight and a Constitution under siege.

There was never a choice in this election for me. I declared myself an Obama supporter in June of ‘07. I had the first lawn sign in the neighborhood (stolen during the May primary oddly enough). I declared early. Yes, I didn’t know enough about all of his policies for the nation. But, what I did know was that this man had character. His speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was inspiring, but as the saying goes, he had me at his public stance against the Iraq War. Fellow feminists can call me a traitor for not supporting Hillary, but her vote for the war (and many Senators with her) was uninformed, dangerous and cynical. And it lost her my vote.

Barack Obama is the candidate for my generation. He has not just conducted a campaign, he has led a movement. This man has brought me to tears with his inspiring rhetoric on numerous occasions. Those who say inspiration doesn’t matter just doesn’t get what we have been through the last 8 years.

I know that a President Obama will have many challenges and he won’t pass every one, but his strong intellect, his bearings in Constitutional law, his calm temperament and his ability to inspire is what we need in a leader. The past 8 years lay this bare.

My first political opus was a report on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 4th grade. That wide-eyed 10 year-old civil rights essayist is smiling at the dream being so close. She would be proud to cast her vote for Obama on November 4th.