Feeling the Wow of Obama

My vote is yes!
I want Obama as my next president.
He has a deep vision of what is needed and wanted in a country that is reeling from a presidency and administration that has ignored it's people and done more harm than good. He wants the same rights for all Americans, not just the elite few who make more in one month than most of us will make in a lifetime. There's a very real sense of fairness about his ideals and politics and person. There is a feeling of genuine love and compassion for the ones he hopes to represent. I don't know that I have ever felt this passionate, this dedicated or this profound feeling of oneness with any presidential candidate before him.

Obama's speech at the convention last night, stirred in me a desire to get up and do something. To show my patriotism by action and service.
What specifically did I like? Well, let me count the ways:

1. Acknowledgment of the economic frustration we feel today; the money crunch AND the expression that it's not a government issue alone:
"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this."

2. Recognition for who John McCain is BUT also a reality check on what he has come to stand for:
"Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners." ...Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know."

3. The definition of success:
"We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 ... We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work."

4. Obama's expectation of the government:
"Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper."

5. The the changes Obama wants to make are the ones I'd like to participate in and see happen:
"Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced."

Amen! Barack Obama's speech is a gold mine of motivation and the will to move forward. His speech delivered the specifics I was seeking about his plan for the future and I'm eager to see the debates play out.

I had to include the video of his biography and speech because to summarize it more means to cut out all that is good about what he believes and what I loved about his speech.

Obama's convention biography:


Obama's history in politics:


Obama's full speech:


In the end, I hope Obama becomes our next president. I hope that others feel moved by his passion and desire to move this country forward. I hope others listen and really hear what he has to say and that they, too, will catch the vision.

And more than that, right now, I hope that whoever you choose to vote for, you know the why - the specifics of that why. That it's based on something real - something more than an unspoken obligation to church, family or fear.

I have put my support behind the man I hope to be our next president: Barack Obama.

That said, I will watch the Republican Convention with interest for what kind of plan John McCain has. I want to hear from his own mouth, what he hopes to accomplish in the next four years that he hasn't already tried to do in the last 26 years he's been in office. What's different now?