Mailing it in

With my ballot completed, quadruple checked, sealed in an iron box, and officially mailed off, I feel I at least deserve to print out my own sticker. Several months ago, I envisioned this day and imagined the need to justify my vote for Obama. Like the rest of America, I anticipated a tight race and polling places as divided as the constituents themselves. With roughly a week and a half to go before the actual election day, clearly anything can still happen, but the past month or so has, in the least, all but negated my need to put the reasons for my decision into writing. I say this not because I feel that common sense should prevail, but because so many others, including a good number of republicans, have done so already for me. I do, however, feel the need to explain exactly why I feel Obama and this election is so important to my generation. And since it is my blog after all, I ask that you please allow me just this one indulgence.

The first time I saw Barack Obama speak, it was on the Late Show With David Letterman. I have absolutely no recollection of what was spoken about, but I remember being struck by Obama's charisma. I knew very little about politics at the time (as opposed to my mere "limited" knowledge now), but I knew enough to surmise that elections were about roughly 15% policy and facts, and 85% presentation. By my calculation, if the guy with the funny name was indeed going to run for president (as was rumored at the time), I figured he had a pretty good chance of making a real run at it. The more I read about Obama from that point forward, though, the more I realized that there was more than a fair bit of substance to match his style. His views as a social liberal seemed to match up with mine, and I truly appreciated his ability to think critically about issues in a level-headed way. And so I began to do my research, and I watched his speech from the 2004 Democratic Convention, and like so many other young Americans, I was inspired. For the first time in my life, I was actually inspired by a politician. And while it probably shouldn't be, I find that to be amazing. Regardless of what people say about voters my age and our propensity to drink the kool aid for young, eloquent, intelligent black presidential candidates, the fact remains that Mr. Obama was able to motivate and mobilize an entire generation of voters who may not have been active before. And I think that's pretty cool.

My fear then, as we approached the final push not two shorts months ago, was that all that inspiration would somehow end up for naught. If Obama were somehow to lose the election, particularly in a means similar to that of 2000 (and again, anything can happen), I feared that the impact on twenty-somethings and our political engagement would be catastrophic. It now seems, fingers crossed, that that's not going to happen. I want to return to an America that's looking up, even through struggles, and to a leader who inspires us with optimism rather than fear. I want my kids, God willing I have them, to grow up as part of generation that is less cynical about their country than mine. And while I don't know what's going to happen in twelve days, I at least know that I won't be the only one my age holding my breath. After today, it's quite literally out of my hands.