a Little Light

This country is in distress. We are in the middle of a war in the Middle East where victory is not possible but is expected to cost U.S. taxpayers $2.4 trillion dollars assuming a withdrawal by 2017 (http://is.gd/3rsz Reuters). Wall St. is in trouble on a level not seen since the Great Depression. The value of the U.S. dollar has been decreasing steadily since the turn of the new millennium (http://is.gd/3rvl Oanda corp.). Gas prices were once as low as $0.92 cents a gallon but averaged $4 this summer (http://is.gd/3rw7 CNN). And the biggest export for our nation is now debt, which is increasing our inflation rate rapidly, making you and me poorer on a perpetual basis while creating a huge bill that we will have to pay later (http://tinyurl.com/4238ny TIME).

All this has taken place under pathetic leadership of our 43^rd president, George W. Bush. According to the History News Network, President Bush has an approval rating of 28% by the American public, but when evaluated by 109 professional historians, only 2% considered his presidency a success (http://is.gd/3rEj HNN). We could ramble on his inadequacy and incompetent abilities as president, but rather than crying over spilled milk I prefer to seize my opportunity to ensure this type of character does not inhabit the white house for another four years. In the first presidential election I am able to participate in, I am prepared to vote for the only candidate who can turn our country around. I am voting because of Senator Barack Obama.

The opposition to Senator Obama is Senator John McCain. McCain is essentially an extension of Bush and his flawed policies. According to Congressional Quarterly’s Voting Studies, McCain has voted with Bush 95%, a rate that has been increasing over the past couple years (http://is.gd/3rFG). President Bush’s term has been riddled with unaccountability, poor decisions, and appalling management. It appears as though a McCain term is essentially a third Bush term, a status quo our country does not need right now.

This brings us to Senator Obama. Obama represents change and progress in every facet imaginable.

Politically, as a first term senator, he defeated the giant Clinton machine in a fashion never witnessed before. The way Obama organized volunteers, voters, and donors were mesmerizing. He helped ensure that for the first time in 20 years, a Bush or Clinton would not take the Oval Office.

Culturally, Obama understands our generation better than any other presidential candidate in recent history. By using text messaging to reveal his running mate, creating an iPhone application to connect his supporters, turning his webpage into a social networking site and by using various forms of media on his blog and official webpage, Obama is a candidate who understands and embraces technology and innovation.

Socially, Obama represents a direction our country needs to head in. Being an individual of African-American decent, Obama’s residence in the White House will deliver a much needed blow to the underlying racism which is present in our Country. Generations which follow Obama’s tenure will be more welcoming to diversity in ethnicity.

Obama is also a true exhibit of the American dream, rising from modest beginnings in my hometown in Honolulu to becoming the first African-American head of the law review at Harvard graduating magna cum laude in 1991. A decade and a half later, he reached the position of Senator, a rapid and outstanding climb considering his humble origins. Obama is truly a man from Main St, not Wall St as McCain and Bush are. An Obama win will remind us that, through hard work and dedication, we can achieve our dreams and ambitions.

I am voting because Senator Obama represents the course needed for our country. But I’m just one vote. According to the secretary of state, about 27,000 of 88,600 newly registered voters in the past four months were between the ages of 18 and 24 (http://is.gd/3rOm Seattle Times). If you have not already registered, you have until tomorrow to register at secstate.wa.gov/elections. This could be our banner year. After all, there is no reason to wait on the world to change when the ability to change the world is a couple mouse clicks away.