A dear friend of mine spoke highly of Obama in my presence and then said, "Oh I'm sorry, do you hate him?"
What?!?!?!
So I thought I'd put it on record. I am a huge fan of Senator Obama. He's one of my home state Senators. I'm a big fan of writing to my elected officials and the best letter I've ever gotten back came from Obama's office (on reproductive rights... naturally). (Already noted on this blog here.)
When I've got multiple good options -- as I believe we have had in this Dem primary -- I don't stop liking some of those good options just because they're not my first choice. Especially when I can see November lurching towards us. No candidate in this race is perfect for me. But I'm not exactly mainstream America, so that's no surprise. I appreciate the issues that are getting real airtime for the first time in a long time -- poverty, universal healthcare, renewable energy -- and that's thanks to the whole field of Dem candidates, not any single person (except maybe Edwards on poverty). The policies in this Dem primary are the best we've been offered in my lifetime.
Still, I do get seriously frustrated by sexism, racism, homophobia, age-ism, implications that atheists have no morals, religious bias, and any other type of bigotry. I get particularly worked up about sexism. It's probably my bias as a woman, but it's also because I worked on those issues professionally for a good while. These issues are part of my life's passion. (See the blog post below this one.)
Truly, even if I'd voted for Obama in the primary, I'd be just as worked up about the sexism in this campaign. I don't think I'm any less offended by the racism circulating just because I voted for Clinton. But if I am, shame on me. We'll never be rid of all the -isms unless those of us not affected by certain -isms still speak out against them.
But I digress. I'm proud my party is nominating such an excellent candidate... Barack Obama. I love that I'll be voting to break down a barrier in the fall. I love that his name is Barack Obama. I'm excited for change. I don't regret my vote this primary. I also don't begrudge the votes of the majority of Dems for Obama. It's why I'm a fan of democracy. It works.
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2 comments:
I find it odd that in American politics we are expected to hate one candidate in order to support another. Whatever happened to the idea of several worthy candidates? Picking the best of good options, rather than the better of two evils?
That is EXACTLY how I feel. Especially when we're at the primary stage!
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