GO BAMA

3/10/2008

I cannot confess to being completely updated on the elections going on at home. My access to news in Cabrican is limited. The Guatemalan newspapers are barely following the primaries and do not offer in depth analysis of what is going on. I have to settle for their short blurbs which do not provide much more information than who won which primary. The internet costs money, and I rarely have the time to check online news sources after revising my email. I do have people at home who take the time to update me on things, but this comes mixed in with their opinions and impressions. This being said, my candidate for President is whole-heartedly Barack Obama.

Lately our politics have desperately lacked inspiration. Partisan fighting and infighting have taken over our halls of leadership and little is accomplished without cooperation. We have grown disillusioned with our government which appears to value party politics more than the good of the nation and important institutions like our education system are suffering as a result. Not to mention, the past eight years of fear-mongering and the constant threats of “you’re with us or you’re against us.” Lack of openness to new ideas has only made our country suffer and our relationships abroad deteriorate.

I think it is rare you find people like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F Kennedy who have the power and the vision to inspire so large a portion of our nation. I believe Obama is one of these people. Change does not come solely from the change of presidencies; it comes from getting the nation and its people invested in change, invested in improving the status quo. Obama has the power and the vision to do this. True, people sight his “lack of experience,” and perhaps that is so, though I do not believe it, but experience never guaranteed a good leader, (look at our current one) and there are plenty of people who lead well without that “required experience.” Leaders have to be able to compromise, to make tough decisions, to unify and to lead by example. Obama has already proven he can do all of this.

Thomas Wolfe writes in You Can’t Go Home Again:

“I believe that we are lost here in America, but I believe we shall be found. And this belief, which mounts now to the catharsis of knowledge and conviction, is for me – and I think for all of us – not only our own hope, but America’s everlasting, living dream…

I think the true discovery of America is before us. I think the true fulfillment of our spirit, of our people, of our mighty and immortal land, is yet to come. I think the true discovery of our own democracy is still before us. And I think that all these things are as certain as the morning, and as inevitable as noon. I think I speak for most men living when I say that our America is Here, is Now, and beckons on before us, and that this glorious assurance is not only our living hope, but our dream to be accomplished.”

This quote strikes a chord with me, because it reminds me of Obama’s rhetoric of hope, of change and of accomplishment. This is not to say that Obama is going to be the savior of our country or achieve all of this on his own. Obama’s power is not necessarily his ability to achieve change on his own, but his power to inspire people to help him achieve this change. He has the power of organization and inspiration and I believe he can convert this into group action.

It is rare to have an election so full of qualified and exemplary candidates. I do not doubt the ability of Hillary Clinton or John McCain to lead this country. I have often said in the past I would vote for either of them, but in this election I believe that Obama is the better candidate. Clinton unfortunately at this point in time is too divisive and has too many enemies to unite the country when this is desperately what we are in need of. Not to mention, that her election would result in 24 years of the same two families ruling our country. Now is time for a change, not more of the same. I would love to see a woman in the white house, but I do not think Clinton is the best candidate and cannot vote for her solely because she is a woman. McCain is also an excellent and experienced candidate and his domestic policy for the most part is inspiring. He has proven to go against the grain of party politics for the good of the country. However, due to the past eight years of leadership, we need someone who can mend our international relationships and foreign policy and McCain unfortunately seems too centered on the big stick to be able to achieve this.

All this stated. GO BAMA!