So, I just thought I'd put my thoughts out there on the recent election. I'd never been a very political person growing up, and my family didn't really ever have political discussions. That all changed with 9/11 happened. I started taking an interest in the news, and I woke up every morning to read CNN.com, FoxNews.com, and even AlJazeera.com. That last one was more of a joke, but you should check it out some time to see some of the ridiculous "conspiracy theories" that some people have about our country. Anyway, that led to me reading about politics much more.
In 2004, I took a real interest in the election. Growing up considering myself a Republican, I found myself questioning some of my beliefs about some issues, as most people do when they've gone to college. I decided I was going to be as informed as I could before the vote. So, with a little regret I sat down to watch the Democratic National Convention. Most of it was pretty boring, as John Kerry wasn't the most interesting of candidates. I was getting a little tired, and then a man named Barack Obama strolled onto the stage. I had no idea who this person was, but I found myself captivated by his speech. I was at home in Tullahoma sitting on my parents' bed watching probably the best speech I'd ever heard. My dad, who'd been taking a shower, walked into the room, and I literally told him, "I've just heard a speech from someone who's going to be president some day." I know that story sounds made up, but it's 100% true.
So, the election of 2004 went by without much of a hoopla. I found myself deciding to vote for Kerry while I was in line, not because I really believed in his policies, but more because I didn't think he could screw things up much more than Bush did. I was excited to see Obama won the senate seat, and I occasionally followed stories about him. I wanted to read his book, but I never really got around to it. Fast forward two and a half years and his name started popping up in the news again. I was excited to see he was running, as well as one of my favorite candidates from the 2000 campaign, John McCain.
There was a brief period of time where I thought it might be a tough decision between the two. McCain was experienced and a middle-of-the-road candidate who wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in. Unfortunately, it became obvious that he would have to drift further to the right in order to get past the primaries. The McCain who ran in 2008 was not the McCain of 2000. Now, I think he would have made a fine president, but my beliefs fell more with Obama. I can say that this is the first time I've voted for someone who I was completely passionate about.
I know some people reading this won't agree with me, but I have alot of hope for the next four years. Yesterday's election was one of those moments that your children are going to ask you about, and I tried to capture every moment of it, despite being on-call at the hospital. Unfortunately, the day didn't go perfectly, as Prop 8 in California and Prop 102 in Arizona both passed, banning gay marriage. While we may have taken one giant step to fight discrimination, there are still many to go.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the election. I promise our fun little blog isn't going to turn into an opinion piece. I just felt motivated to jot down my thoughts, given the historic circumstances. Maybe I'll re-read them in four years to get some perspective.
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