I'm done

I am so done with this decision. I have researched, I have debated, I have watched WAAAAYYY more CNN & NBC than I would like to admit to, I have snoped the ridiculous emails, I have taken the candidate to candidate tests, I have asked myself what is important to me, and then last night, I watched the 30 minute infomercial and ....

I cried.

I actually cried. Not because I believed that he could do everything he said, because I don't, but I really believe he thinks he can... or at least he wants to try. I WANT TO BELIEVE in the life he is talking about. He is not promising a flat screen in every TV room, but he says he is going to try and help settle things so we don't feel like we are all one bad decision away from living out of our cars. He is not saying every student is going to get a blank check for college, but if you need help, you'll get help as long as YOU help your community or your country. A good education doesn't start with regulations and policies... it starts in the home when parents turn off the TV and start reading books with their children. He doesn't believe in FREE health care... he believes in making health care affordable and requiring people to sacrifice i-pods for x-rays.


Those concepts are important to me... concepts I believe in.

The may not be concepts you believe in... and that is the beauty of this country. We can live in an neighborhood where side by side neighbors have opposing McCain/Palin - Obama/Biden yard signs and still be friends on November 5th.... well.. maybe more like December or January 5th... this has been a rough campaign.

Speaking of rough campaigns... the worst part of all of this is hearing people discuss things that sound so incredibly absurd to my ears, and yet hearing people whose opinion I hold dear discuss them as if they are straight from the Bible. Things that within 3 seconds can be completely proven as false with a click of the mouse and yet over and over and over I get the same emails of hatred and ignorance. Why couldn't this campaign simply be about differing opinions? Why did it have to be sexist, racist, anti-Muslim, anti-Christ and all the other crap that just kept coming up over and over?

So in case you haven't figured out yet who I voted for, I give you the following story:

We voted today as a family. All of us went together and waited patiently in the long line. When it was our turn to go through the 3 station verification process prior to the voting booth, Max offered the following information:

1st station - checking your ID
Max: Barack OBAMA!!
Me: Angel - this is not it yet!
(huge smiles and laughter from the lady checking the IDs she had to stop what she was doing to compose herself)

2nd station - signature
Max: Is THIS where we vote for Barack OBAMA??? I already voted for him at school!!
Polling Lady: No, not yet - but good for you!

3rd station - receiving your voting receipt and pin number
Max: WE are voting for BARACK OBAMA!
Polling gentleman: Well, then you need to go right in there to do that!


And we did, and then we got our stickers, and went and had dinner.

And I am hopeful... for someone who is never okay with change I look forward to this one.

And if I am wrong, I'll change my mind in 4 years.....