He did it! We did it! Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. You will not believe how amazing I feel. There is so much that could be said and so much that has been said. I won't repeat all those historic things today, I just needed to quickly document this moment for myself. As I was watching the results in my makeshift Alaniz Election Center (two TVs and beer) I was ecstatic to find out the news. Things will not be easy, but to know that our leaders motives are honorable and that gives me such encouragement.
About 8 years ago I went into the 2000 election thinking I was maybe a republican, having never really put much thought into it. It wasn't more than a few months before the 2000 election that I started to look into it and found out that republicans did not stand for me. I still had pent up irrational dislike of democrats and didn't think I could vote for Al Gore, a man who I deeply admire today. I abstained from voting in a sense and voted Nader (which I don't regret since I voted in NY). That night I turned on CNN on my 13in TV in my dorm room and watched the results come in. It was now Wednesday morning and there was still no winner and I was still in front the TV. This went on for weeks. As the recount went on and ultimately went to the Supreme Court, I became more democratic by the moment. By the end of that decision, I was now a liberal Democrat choosing to be informed on the issues and not just buy the standard Republican talking points. It was just the way the Republicans went about that entire process that really sealed it for me. Each day as Bush ran our government and country into the ground my passion grew and I developed a strong interest in what was going on in Washington. In 2004 things were dire, we were now in war based on lies and ignoring the real threats to our nation. We needed a change, and even voting in Miami Dade County wasn't enough to help Kerry stop the nose dive Bush's administration had put us in. The next four years I followed even more closely all the decisions being made and as the primaries approached, looked at all the candidates who were vying to be president. I wanted to have hope again, and not that gilded hope I had as a child under Reagan, but one for a country that cared about the working class and the poor as much as its corporations. I may have voted in Texas this time, but I'm proud to be part of Obama's popular vote count and so happy that he is going to be the next president of the United States. If my progressive ideology is wrong, well let me be proven wrong over the next four years because I have already seen the conservative ideology not only be proven wrong, but hurt America.
I have a million thoughts about this election, how it was run on both sides and this new "center-right" conservative propaganda trying to be sold to the American public (as opposed to the clear mandate for progressive change). I'm sure they will come up as things go on, but for right now, I'm emotionally drained from this political addiction and just want to relax, enjoy my own life and remember that more information doesn't given me any greater control.
hope there is something I can do to help
No comments:
Post a Comment