I am posting a recent entry from another blog I write as my first entry here on my.BarackObama.com. It explains how I came to make up my mind about Obama.
Originally posted on December 21, 2007 at: http://spiritedstrider.blogspot.com
Civic Responsibility
I recently was talking politics with a group of colleagues and friends. Having just returned from Iowa (my home state for those that haven't yet figured that out from my writings), I am always "pumped up" with politics on my mind since everywhere you turn now in Iowa the focus is on the upcoming Iowa Caucus on January 3. In the United States, one often hears that there are three major topics of discussion that people should avoid: religion, sex and politics. It's a funny thing, because when I was growing up, I was encouraged to talk about two of those controversial topics: religion and politics. (Being a boomer with parents from the pre-boomer age, we didn't do too much discussion on sex!)Of the two, I probably spent more time talking about politics than anything else. There are really many reasons why this was so, and the fact that I lived in Iowa had a lot to do with it, as well as the fact that my dad and his family were always very opinionated! I am very grateful that I was exposed and encouraged to participate in our democracy. That meant that there was never a question whether I would vote when I was legally able to do so. But before voting, I needed to be informed on who I was voting for and why. It was my civic responsibility to learn what the issues were, to look inside myself to identify what issues were important to me and to vote for my candidate of choice.This process was as necessary for me back then as it is still vital for all of us today. Yet how many of us are really informed of the candidates' positions? How many of us don't bother to vote at all, because we've become apathetic to the political process? Are you the kind of person who strategizes about how to vote based on what you think the country is "ready for?" I was surprised in my conversation today with a colleague to hear him strategizing about whether the country was "ready for" a black President, a woman President or a Mormon President... He commented that he was not going to "throw away his vote any longer." I guess he felt that by really voting for his candidate of choice, (which is often who he perceives to be the least likely to win), he was "taking away" a vote for "the most likely to win" candidate in that same party, thereby resulting in the opponent from the other party winning the election.Wow, I thought, this is a sad way to look at our democracy and our role in it. On what basis are we determining the one who is "most likely to win?" And at what point in the process? We all know that the polls change and that the only thing that really counts is our vote! What if the majority of people approached voting this way? What if their "real" choice was the one they perceived to be the least likely to win, and thus, vote for the second, third or even fourth "best option?" If all of those people really voted for their first choice, the result may be entirely different! We might actually get what we want for our country!If you are one of those U.S. residents or citizens who has decided that your vote does not matter, or that the country is "not ready" for the candidate you support, I urge you to think again. Become pro-(name of candidate you really want) versus anti-(name of candidate you don't really want). If you are not sure who you want, try a new approach. I believe that we can apply the law of attraction to politics, just as we can apply it to our everyday lives. Just as you can create change in your life by focusing on the outcome you want to create, you can envision a nation the way you want it to be. You can imagine it in its ideal state, visualizing the change you desire, the future that you want for yourself, your children and your grandchildren. Focus on the outcome and the ideal candidate for you will become clear to you as you sift through the maze of speeches, articles, debates, podcasts and websites with their platforms. I did that and my candidate is Barack Obama. I'm ready and looking forward to the change for my country and for the world.
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