I remember voting in my first Presidential primary in 1992. I crossed party lines and pulled a Democratic ballot because I believed Bill Clinton could change the world and I truly admired Hillary as well. (Yes, that means that at one point in my young life, I was a Republican and that's a story only to be told over martinis). She was the type of woman I wanted to be; she had a successful career as an attorney, worked in children's advocacy, and managed to be a hands-on mom and good wife. As the years went on, I grew to like her even more. She was smart and unafraid to stand up for what she believed in. I also agreed with her on many issues. In early 2000, when she declared her candidacy for US Senator from New York, I tried to figure out a way to go work for her and vowed that if she ran for President, I would drop whatever I was doing to be part of her campaign. Because I was in DC during the 90s, I had the unique opportunity to be in Mrs. Clinton's presence on more than one occasion.
Eight years later, Senator Hillary Clinton is running for President. It's an historic moment to see the first viable female candidate. And I almost volunteered for her campaign.
I say almost because in this election cycle we also have the unique privilege of having another equally strong Democratic candidate. A candidate who will also make history. A candidate who stopped me in my tracks when I first met him almost 6 years ago. His name is Barack Obama and he is the junior Senator from Illinois.
From the moment I first met him, I was taken in by Senator Obama's willingness to build coalitions and listen. He truly listened. He wanted to hear people's concerns and when he spoke, his words were inspirational. I don't mean inspirational like self-help gurus. He spoke of a better America. A safer America. An America that had the respect of foreign countries. He spoke of possibilities and his belief that we could all be better. He spoke of peace and of building unity. He reminded me of another inspirational president - John Fitzgerald Kennedy - and his famous words, "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." President Kennedy made people want to be part of something bigger and better than themselves and Senator Obama does too.
At a time when America has been bitterly divided along partisan lines for 16 years, I believe that Senator Barack Obama is truly the candidate of change and the only candidate who can reach across all lines - gender, race, age, socioeconomic, and party - to rebuild America in the 21st Century.
Senator Obama is the Real Thing, and therefore, I throw my considerable support behind Barack and strongly encourage you to vote for him on Tuesday, February 5th.
For more information about Senator Barack Obama, visit his website.
I am actually leaning a bit towards Clinton, largely because I am concerned about Obama's lack of experience, his association with anti-gay pundits, his coziness with evangelical bullies, and a recent speech in which he praised the legacy of Reagan. This is not to say that Clinton doesn't have points of concern for me.
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, I like both Obama and Clinton better than any Republican currently running and will gladly support whichever of them is the candidate in November. I am actually a little sad that Huckabee isn't doing better. Had he won, I was gladly looking forward to four years vacation in fantastic Vancouver.