Why I Will Vote for Obama

I have hope for our country. Hope we can return to the prosperity of the 90s. Hope we can get our troops home safely. Hope we can provide for our citizens - with quality healthcare and education for all, affordable housing, aid to the poor, fair wages, and equal treatment. I believe we can once again be a peaceful nation. I believe that eventually we will return to budget surpluses like we had only 8 years ago. (!!) I believe people of all faiths, races, gender, and sexual preference should have the same rights.

I believe there is one person who can get us there - and that person is Barack Obama. And yes, he does NOT have direct experience to be President. NOBODY does. It isn't a job you can train for. There isn't a Presidential apprenticeship program. But Barack Obama has lived a exemplary life. He was born to a white single mother, and a black father he only wanted to know, raised by white grandparents who didn't have much money in a largely white community. He worked his !#*off, got scholarships and attended some of the finest universities in the country. He graduated at the top of his class from Harvard Law School, and instead of going into corporate law and making MUCHO bucks, Obama instead became a civil rights lawyer and teacher. He has been a "community organizer" (since when is that a negative term??!!), educator, state senator and US Senator. He has an impressive record of collaborating with Republicans and Democrats, of passing important legislation dealing with ethics, healthcare, education, human rights and poverty issues. Upon taking the oath of office, Obama immediately joined forces with one of the most conservative members of the Senate (Tom Coburn) to develop a website to track Federal Spending.

Obama will NOT raise taxes on people making less than $250,000. He WILL raise taxes on people making more than that amount. I have no problem with that. People with those types of resources are able to avoid taxes on more money than most people have. I believe Obama will greatly increase the numbers of people with health insurance. He won't get them all - but he will make a HUGE dent - without threatening the quality of care or coverage. I believe Obama will work to keep our troops safe- by keeping them out of needless wars that aren't ours to fight,and providing them will all the resources and benefits they need and deserve. Obama will regain our standing in the international community as a peaceful, respectful, caring nation. Obama will jumpstart our economy and bring jobs back to America. Obama will promote alternative energy - both eliminating our dependence on foreign oil and improving our environment. Barack Obama will continue to work to make America the place it can be for EVERYONE. And that is why he will get my vote.

Franky, John McCain scares the $*&# out of me. I think he is an American patriot. If this was the John McCain of 5 years ago - I would still not be voting for him, but I would respect what he stood for. I don't anymore. He is a scary old man who has lost his way and lost touch with the American people. He can be highly irrational (demonstrated by both his well-known temper, and his ludicrous selection of a VP candidate who isn't qualified to serve on the Cabinet - much less a heartbeat await from the Presidency); he is a HAWK of the highest caliber, and will have us invading Iran before the end of 2009; he will deny rights to women and gays; he will continue the Bush tax cuts for the rich, ignoring the middle and lower class; he will expand the number of people without healthcare - while destroying employer-paid plans for the rest of us; he will grow the deficit and continue with the same policies we have suffered with over the last 8 years. Instead of being a strong advocate for veterans, John McCain has actually denied improving educational benefits for veterans- less they have greater options than to stay in the military. John McCain is bad for America and, if he gets elected, we will all know it sooner rather than later.

Barack Obama gives me hope. He makes me believe. Barack Obama is the future of this country, and I hope the future is now.