Why Obama gets my vote

As this political season started I wanted Al Gore to run with Obama as his running mate.  I still think of Al as our President in Exile and wanted him to have his chance at bat. You can't want something for someone that they don't want for themselves so I had to look elsewhere.

After initially leaning toward Edwards( I still like him) I decided that Barack Obama was it for me.  Here is why.

Barack Obama has shown me what makes him tick.  It is obvious to me that service is his first priority.  Otherwise he would have moved into a cushy office on Wall Street and never have touched a low paying job as a community activist.  The act of doing this alone shows me what he thinks about corporate America.

I like that he had student loans to pay off.  I like that he had to pay past parking tickets.  This means he is closer to the America I live in than most who are running for office.

I love that he was the first president of the Harvard Law Review of African ancestry.  Only took 173 years to happen.  Very big deal.

He is intelligent and yes, sometimes he sounds like a professor.  I think this is a wonderful thing.  Professors teach and it is apparent to me that America needs some education if we are to avoid another slight of hand by republicans.  An educated electorate makes sound decisions.  That the electorate is listening speaks volumes about his ability to teach and be understood.

He doesn't have to apologize for failing to see that Iraq was a mistake.  I knew that going into Iraq was a mistake.  I want to be represented by someone who is at least as smart as I am.

He taught Constitutional Law.  There has not been a time since the beginning of this experiment in democracy where knowing the Constitution is more important.  The last seven years have nearly gutted the document that is the foundation of freedom in our nation.

He knows how to negotiate and get things done.  If you think having former adversaries endorse you in a state like Illinois is easy, think again.  Not only that, but republicans from his days in the state Senate have done ads for him in the past.  Mind you, he didn't give in to them, he brought them to his side. He ran against and beat the Chicago Democratic Machine in the primaries. I grew up in Chicago and anyone who can beat the Machine there gets big ups from me.  

He is a black man whose experiences as a black man in America make him sensitive to the injustices that are still a part of the fabric of this nation.  I know that he will protect my civil rights.

I've waited for a long time to see an America that will not judge a man on the color of his skin but on the content of his character.  Obama's character is not in question.  Those who question his viability based on the color of his skin are remnants of another age whose time has passed.

He says that one voice can change a room and if a room a city and if a city a state and if a state a nation and if a nation the world.  I believe this.  I believe him.

Yesterday I said that I began this year with hope.  Someone commented that they couldn't find his map for the road of hope.  This was my reply yesterday.  It is my reply today. Hope is not a road.  It's how you make the journey. Without hope, the road is dark.  Hope lights the way. I am making my journey taking hope with me.  That is why I'm voting for Barack Obama.