October 30, 2008

Showing my cards....

I generally have been steering away from commenting on all things political lately, at least online - which is strange because I am pretty out spoken in my "real life". I think I have seen so many political online "conversations" become complete shit storms that I have just not wanted to invite that upon myself.

But....I can no longer hold out. I am so excited and had to share that in one hour I will begin my volunteer work for the campaign of this man:

Probably the first person my husband and I have had a major crush on simultaneously. ( I sound like I am 12 now, don't I?)

And, yes, I have plenty of reasons for supporting him besides the fact I get all googly-eyed whenever I hear him speak. I do, really. In fact, I was a bit of a skeptic for awhile. I originally leaned more towards Hillary in the primaries. Not Mr. Spicy though, he's been an Obama man all the way.

And just a side note, if you like reading memoirs, his book, Dreams From My Father, is really a great read. Really. And it ends before he even goes to Harvard, so if you aren't a supporter of him politically, you won't have to read anything about his political career there at all. It's just a phenomenal book. (apparently there is a big controversy over whether he had a ghost writer to help him with this book and who that might have been - eh, whatever, like I said - still a really great read)

So, I hope my little volunteering stint in this last few days before the election will somehow make some small difference. I am excited to be a part in what is truly an historic election. I am finding myself as excited and passionate as I was back in 1992, the first election I could vote in. I was 18 and completely ga-ga over Bill Clinton. I even got to shake his hand. And even though Clinton didn't exactly turn out to be the messiah or anything, I am still proud of how involved I was back then. And truly, this is the first election since that I have felt this hopeful and involved. And I see so many others feeling the same way - and that for me is really inspiring. So, while I hope my efforts will contribute to getting my candidate elected - I hope even more that by being involved I will somehow be a part of getting even more people involved in the political process. People who might not otherwise have come out to vote. Because at the end of the day that is part of what has been most hopeful for me about all of this: being reminded that this is my country, and that I have a right and a responsibility to make my voice heard and to be involved in it.

Now, remembering to hold onto that energy even when the BIG election is over, and the smaller processes are taking place on a city, county, and state level - that is where the real battle will be for me long term. But, one day at a time, right?

How are you feeling about the election? Are you excited? hopeful? Pissed off? Over it? bored? cynical?

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And completely unrelated....I am in complete denial that I am now over 29 weeks pregnant!!!!! I cannot believe it. But I will be posting updates and belly pics soon - promise!

4 comments:

Denise said...

Good for you for exercising your political rights. I did mail in my ballot on Monday and felt good with my choice to vote for Obama. It has been an exciting election, although I'm pretty over it now. It has also been a bit hard for me at work since I'm surrounded by so many corporate types who bleed Republican. Usually when those conversations come up, I try to just listen and keep my mouth shut!

Although I'm excited and hopeful about a change in the white house, I am a little anxious about the state of our economy and the credit markets right now. It is pretty scary to be bringing a child into such an unstable financial world right now. But I obviously wouldn't give this up no matter how crappy things got!

I can't even fathom the 30 week mark next week. It is so unreal still.

annacyclopedia said...

I've been watching this election with interest, albeit from the safety of my northern home, sparing me the deluge of ads, news, campaign events, and the like. But it seems to me that Obama has the kind of leadership that I associate with the past - when people were not as cynical, when they could really believe in a politician, when leadership actually meant something substantial. And that is just so inspiring to me, especially since we haven't had that kind of leader in Canada for many years. So I've been an Obama fan from the get go - can't really call myself a supporter, living in a different country and all - and I'm really excited to see a change in how the US is perceived on the world stage. I think it's really the beginning of something good.

And wow! 29 weeks! I'm so excited for you!

Anonymous said...

Hey if you think the shit storms it stirs up on the web are enormous try Podunk NE. So happy you're 29 weeks...almost 30!!! Love ya

AJ said...

We have our Obama-Biden sign prominently displayed in our front yard :)