I hoped and hoped it would come to this and I'm so glad it did! I am so proud of the shift I've felt in this country in the last year. It finally feels familiar again.
Way to go, Obama and Joe!
YES WE DID!!
Nice article about why feminists can be proud to support Obama...here's an excerpt:
"When a presidential candidate's core values are unity, equality, opportunity and creating an atmosphere of respect and harmony, both nationally and internationally, then that candidate's vision aligns with the best hopes and dreams of the women's movement. And that is precisely Barack Obama's vision.
For me, the choice between supporting Barack or Hillary was the choice between supporting someone who I know would be very good, Hillary Clinton, or supporting someone who I know could be truly great."
And here's the whole article:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/08/chris_matthews/
Like many other lefties, I've been through a lot of heartache. I've watched as candidate after qualified candidate bit the dust -- thanks to cheating, maybe, but also, assuredly, to careful and unispired campaigns. Now, I love those guys. Gore and Kerry would have been great Presidents. Imagine where we might be. And they had a chance! I remember writhing in my chair when Kerry DIDN'T slam dunk Bush on Vietnam...oh, so many tough moments.
But it was all too much. So after 2004, I disconnected from politics. I didn't pay attention to what Congress was up to. I stopped following who the next candidate might be. I did everything but pretend I was from Canada.
I really couldn't take the heartache. What's more, I couldn't face the idea that we are all so different. I couldn't believe that campaigns were pitting religions against each other; that fear was being used to convince people to give up their rights; that 9/11, a great unifier in our history, was being used as an excuse to torture and hold people against their will (in violation of their human rights!). I couldn't believe it. That's not us, I thought. That's not us!
So I disconnected. And I swore I wouldn't get involved in the next campaign. And I swore I would just vote my one vote for my conscience and forget it.
And then I met Obama.
