For all the Americans reading this, you know that a lot of people are going to the polls and voting or caucusing on February 5.
I am a registered Democrat, though I have voted for republicans in larger elections. I vote the person, not the platform.
That being said, after careful deliberation, I am voting for Senator Obama on Tuesday, and here are 13 reasons why.
1) After the past 8 years of hyper-partisan politics, Barack Obama is speaking to Republicans as well as Democrats.
2) Did you hear his Iowa Victory speech? I have never been so moved at a political...anything!
3) Hillary, and I've got to say her campaign, assumes that just because I'm a woman, I won't look at the candidates. I vote with my finger, not my vagina.
4) I think his health care plan makes the most sense (okay to be honest I thought Senator Edwards' health care plan made the most sense, but he's not in it anymore).
5) Look at his campaign events. Look at the diversity of people there. You go to a campaign event for a republican...well they are all white.
6) I believe that it is time we had someone who isn't white leading this country.
7) He wants to be an AMERICAN president. He is an AMERICAN candidate--not just a Democratic one. It is time to stop the bickering.
8) He helped create the Illinois Early Learning Council. My friends in Illinois needed Early Intervention for their child...Barack Obama, from his time in the state legislature--made sure that they got it.
9) He will both revamp NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and FUND The damn thing. NCLB has laudable goals, but you can't get there without funding and there has to be more than just teaching a test. Senator Obama sees that. I am the wife of a teacher, and that makes sense to me.
10) I get so furious at the pundits who jeer when Senator Obama says that he would sit down with world leaders who do not support the United States. What else is he supposed to do? Bomb them? You HAVE to sit down with people who don't agree with you. They are people, not demons. Maybe you get something accomplished, maybe you don't, but failure is not trying.
11) When the republicans say "Let's work together" they seem to mean "Let's do what I want you to do." When Senator Obama says, "Let's work together" I believe him.
12) In the past 7 years, I have seen the America that I love disappear. When the towers went down, I could see the smoke from my apartment. My friend's cousin went to work that day and never came home. Another friend, was supposed to be there that day and by a miracle wasn't. In the digging they found the nameplate of his desk. Since that horrible day, I barely recognize my country. We torture. Our president listens in on private conversations. We attacked a country that didn't hurt us! I love my country, and I weep for what I lost. Senator Obama, has made me believe in it again. He has made me believe that this country can return to the hope that it was.
13) "Because I am tired of it. Year, after year, after year. Of having to choose between the lesser of Who Cares. Of trying to get myself excited over a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected president. I don't believe that. Do you?"--Aaron Sorkin
If you live in a state that is voting on Tuesday VOTE. I don't care who you vote for, really, I'd love to hear about "record breaking turnout."
If what you have read here interests you, I will respond to anyone who requests me to talk with them.