Let's Kick Off the Obama Era - Vote Tomorrow and Help Turn Our Country Around!

Hey everyone -- are you as ready for tomorrow as I am? In all the election hype over the last several weeks and even months, it's been almost impossible to let the reality of what might happen tomorrow actually sink in. If Obama wins ... it really will be the beginning of a new era for this country. I know that in the interest of sticking to the issues, even Obama's biggest supporters have been reluctant to dwell too much on the historic nature of his campaign. But to think that there is a 109 year old woman out there, born in the 1800's and the daughter of a slave, who has cast her vote for Obama - I mean, wow, that's pretty amazing.

I've beat this point into the ground over the last week, but I'll say it again. Please go out and vote tomorrow. Especially if you are, like me, someone in their twenties - as I go on at length about in my last post - NOW is the time to make ourselves into a legitimate voting bloc. It's why even if you don't live in a swing state, it's imperative to get out there and crank up our demo's standing in the polls.

Now, I will make one last plea as to why we need to go out there and help elect Barack Obama. It's funny though, because for most of us it's almost a choice between sanity and insanity, between hope and fear. It's no wonder that Obama first made his mark speaking in grand terminology - because after eight years of Bush, all of the problems that had been building and building have spiralled into a total mess. And I've yet to hear how exactly John McCain will provide a change in course. McCain claims to have often challenged those in his own party. But let's face it - we as a public have the right to EXPECT our politicians to challenge their own party on no-brainer issues like campaign finance reform, torture, earmark spending, and environmental protection. The fact that the Republican party became ultra-right wing under Bush and Cheney isn't our problem. These are all areas where the party took crazy stances - anyone with decency SHOULD have challenged Bush and Cheney and co in these areas.

But look at McCain on so many of the other issues, the big issues. The economy? Sides with Bush. The war in Iraq? Sides with Bush. Social policy and supreme court criteria? Sides with Bush.

All in all, what's happened to McCain is just pretty sad. A guy who used to be a legitimate party maverick has fallen in step with his party's conservative base. A guy who used to stand for integrity in political campaigning (like the above mentioned campaign finance reform), has become the poster-child for divisive, negative, and downright Rove-ian campaining. McCain's campaining has been downright disgraceful.

For example, does anyone with a brain actually think that Obama is a socialist? How are tax cuts for the middle class any different in principle than tax cuts for the wealthy? Throwing out a word like that is just ridiculous. And it won't work.

You know, this weekend on SNL, we got a glimpse of the old McCain who is funny and self-deprecating. But you know what? Being funny and self-deprecating when you've legitimately been acting like an asshat for the last year isn't quite so funny anymore. It's amazing, because McCain actually participated in a sketch that took serious shots at his running-mate and his campaign. This was not just absurdist, random humor. It was real jabs at the embarrassing state of McCain's campaign. And McCain went along with it, creepy smile and all. So the fact is, if you watched SNL and laughed at McCain's sketches and thought "hmm, he's funny, he doesn't seem like such a bad guy," then, well, you're not really paying attention.

I don't know about you ... I'm ready for a president with above-average intelligence. I'm ready for a president who will surround himself with great thinkers. I'm ready for a president who will make foreign policy decisions based on logic and truth rather than personal politics and grandiose good vs. evil ideologies. I'm ready for a president who thinks about long-term problems and actively works towards solving the Big Issues of our time - alternative energy, getting us OFF of not only foreign oil, but oil, the environmental crisis, and the long-term health of the economy that depends on a strong middle class, NOT a strong super-rich. I'm ready for a president who isn't stuck in World War II or Vietnam or the War in Iraq, who represents something new, a fresh start, and who can remind us why America is the greatest country in the world.

I don't know if Obama will be the next great President or not. But he just may have a chance, and that's not something we see often. I've been a supporter since the man first came onto the scene, and at every turn people have said to me that they were surprised at my advocacy. They didn't think a guy named Barack Obama had a chance - not to make it past the other Democratic candidates in the primary, not to beat out Hillary Clinton, and not to topple the more experienced and established McCain. Well to all of the detractors - here we are. And to all of the supporters - tomorrow is the moment, let's do this.