Right now I am just feeling so energetic and enthused. Someone finally came through to get me a flight to Austin, TX for my upcoming break, which means I will be volunteering with the Obama campaign in the warm and sunny weather in such an important. The only thing I have lef to do is to secure housing.
Not to mention Obama has just been predicted by all news outlets to win Wisconsin! I have to gave a thank you to my home state for truly making the right decision.
Yay!YES WE CAN!
And thank you Carol K. so much!
I do not claim to be in the political mainstream; in reality, I am far from it, edging closer towards radical political reform. But I am giving my support for Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton because something vital is at stake here-- the American political system's integrity.
Allow me to elborate. For so many years, it is no wonder young people have been disenfranchished by the political process. After all, we are more idealistic and oriented towards change than older generations. With this notion of the young as idealistic, I am suggesting that Washington politics does not appeal to these notions. But it is not just Washington politics that frowns upon idealism and change; it the very fabric of our society, dominated by complex institutions of power, that promote complacency and blind consumerism from a young age. This is a system that works for the Washington politicians who are fed by the special interest groups and for these special interest groups that amass billions of dollars every year. The politics of hope and change are silenced by the cynics who benefit at the cost of its citizens. The message of hope is silenced because it can and it will disrupt the inequalities that plague this nation.
Make no mistake, Barack Obama is not a messiah. He cannot bring everything he hopes to provide; that is the reality that we must be willing to accept. However, he can bring something even more vital to the success of this nation: the ability to inspire the people to promote change. With this ability to catalyze the American people, and young people specifically, into action, he is able to further pressure the Washington political landscape and systems of injustice to topple. One president does not change a nation but the president aligned with an electrified populous will provide the necessary change. Hillary Clinton cannot provide this electrifying ability to unite the American people and will consequently fail in promoting change.
As we have seen, Hillary Clinton has only further alienated and deinfranchished voters from all walks of life, first in campaign statements about the "red state" Democratic contests not mattering and second in her statement that 'words are cheap'. The first statement shows the type of person she is, capable of only seeing the country as red and blue, Democratic and Republican. Obama sees things differently; we see things differently and can reach across the self-imposed aisles to truly enact change. But the second comment is perhaps the worst injustice to hope, change, and the spirit of so many who have fought since 1776 to better what America is. If words are so cheap, maybe we can just toss the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution in a White House bathroom and let the water ruin it. If words are so cheap, maybe we can just burn all of books, where the great scholarship and thought generated by brave minds is contained. If words are cheap, maybe we should just forget the racial slurs that have dehumanized so many minority populations or the nasty language that has marginalized gay, lesbian and transgendered persons for far too long. If words are so cheap, why even bother campaigning at all? Apparently only actions matter today.
For this single phrase and its implications, I cannot and will not support Hillary Clinton if she gets this nomination. But her entrenchment in special interests, inability to see Barack's own experience outside of Washington, disastorous healthcare plan, and her inability to stir within me any feeling of hope are compounding factors. I am not sure if other young people feel the same, but I know with everything fiber in my body, that Obama is the one reason I am turning back to the Democratic party for now after being so alienated and dissatisfied for so long. He is not the messiah; he cannot fix everything by himself. But if his support thus far is any indication of his future success, he can and will inspire the American people to great things. If Clinton maintains the nomination, I know that I can never be a Democrat again because I cannot support a party heralding a figure who discounts just how powerful and influential words are. But for now, I put my full support in Barack Obama, the remaining primary states, and the superdelegates to realize what Clinton is doing is wrong and that Barack is what is right for this nation. We young people deserve something better and for the first time, the possibility of change is not a mere abstraction. But we cannot hold on to the nation that this change can happen without us advocating for it. Take to the phones, make a five dollar donation, volunteer with the campaign, and fight for whatever issues you believe in most. We can and we will defy the cynics, Hillary among them, who want to keep the status quo.
