Vote For Obama on Tuesday (or whenever.)
If you haven't decided to vote for in Maryland's primary (or your state's primary), please consider voting for Barack Obama.
For most of my voting life, my votes have gone to candidates based on what they aren't. I voted for Al Gore because he wasn't a Republican and for John Kerry because he wasn't George Bush.
This is the first time I'm voting for a candidate because of what they are. Barack Obama is inspiring and charismatic and sincere and, I think, the best candidate to unite us instead of keeping us divided.
I posted this before, but I think it bears repeating:
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a president who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. They will only grow louder and more dissonant. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false against hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA. We will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea.
Yes. We. Can."
Me again:
And the sentence I keep going back to is, "In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."
In this election, I'm voting for hope instead of fear. I hope you do, too.
(Or at least vote.)
This is going to be my last Barack Obama plug/reminder to vote (until November).
