I never thought of myself as a strict party member, if I think someone’s going to do a good job for the country, that’s who I vote for. I believe in certain things, like the right for people to do what they want (within reason) so long as they’re not actively hurting someone else. I believe in pro-choice. I believe in gay marriage. I believe that we do need taxes to keep our country going. I do not believe that corporations above a certain size should get tax breaks. I do not believe in making other countries toe the line that we alone draw in the sand.
I wasn’t old enough to vote at the time, but I remember wanting Reagan to win. I didn’t really care about GWHB vs Dukakis, I wanted Clinton, but didn’t think that GWB should have won at all. Quite frankly, a “C” student shouldn’t have any business running a country. Kerry didn’t impress me at all, and it came as no surprise that we went with the status quo for the next four years.
When Barack came on the scene, though, I got a sense of “this guy has SOMETHING” that I should pay attention to. He’s gotten to this point without having very many people saying bad things about him, which means that he managed not to step on too many on his way up - something that impresses me in this day and age. He’s well spoken, level-headed, and he LISTENS so he’s tuned into the wants & needs of a huge amount of the populace. Most of all, his background is hardship embodied. A black child, raised by his grandmother in the 60s and 70s?
He’s now the inspiration to hundreds of thousands and possibly even millions of black americans. Every mother in this country can now tell their misbehaving child “You too can become President of the USA if you apply yourself” no matter WHAT their background and have it actually mean something. We’ve broken the mold, and truly shown that we ARE growing up as a nation, moving away from the barriers of racism step by step.
I have dreams that now we finally have a president who will be able to DO what he’s said in his speeches, and I think a lot of folks are in the same boat. I know that a certain amount of red tape is going to slow down any progress, and that we’ll need to do more than just WANT for things to happen.
The rest of the world is, for the most part, happy with our decision. We can now be proud to say “I’m an American” outside of our borders, without prefacing it with “I didn’t vote for GWB”. I do worry that it only takes ONE crazy person to get it in their head and assassinate him, thereby sending the country into a death spiral; but for now, I can have hope. YES, I CAN.
