Still I look to find a reason to believe

Dear Megan,

I am all antsy about tomorrow. I have been trolling the internet all freaking day looking for something to ease my worried mind. (Yes, I am at work. Why do you ask?) To make matters worse, Andrew Sullivan hasn't updated his blog for nearly two and a half hours! Sure, he left a very moving essay about why he supports Barack Obama (the end is the best), but that's just not enough for me today.

I early-voted two weeks ago tomorrow. There were a few people in line ahead of me, and I was surprised to find out that I was the 168th person to vote at that booth (one of about eight, I'd guess) at that precinct on that day. It is the first time in my years of voting that I have actually felt good about my vote. In other elections, I chose the lesser of two evils. I regret that I didn't vote for Gore now (not that my vote would have mattered in Mississippi), but at the time I didn't feel like he would be able to be a good president. He didn't get out from the shadow of Clinton until he grew a beard and started the hardcore environmentalism campaign. I thought then (and still think to an extent) that there was no way he would be able to lead under the weight of what had happened in the years leading up to 2000. The Republicans wouldn't have let him.

I voted for Kerry in 2004, but I felt dirty doing it. I didn't think that he would be an effective president, either, but there was no way that I could reward Bush for the actions that he took during his first four years. To call Kerry the lesser of two evils insinuates that he could actually hold a candle to Bush/Cheney in the evil department. It still wouldn't have made him a good president.

There is but one thing that I remember pretty vividly about the 2004 campaign. (A lot of folks recently have been mentioning a Bin Laden tape that was released on October 31 of that year. I have no recollection of that.) I remember watching Barack Obama speak at the DNC convention. I don't know why I would have had any reason to watch that. Ella was barely one year old at the time, so I had a little bit on my hands. But I remember that all of the announcers were talking about how great a keynote address it would be. And so I watched. I got goosebumps. It cannot be denied that the man gives a good speech. "Out of this long political darkness, a brighter day will come."

I am unabashed in my enthusiasm for Obama. I believe that he will be a great leader for this country. I just hope . . . HOPE . . . that he will be given the opportunity.

Tomorrow.

MAKE SURE TO VOTE!!!

love, molly

previous post title source: "Dumb Girl," Run DMC