Thank you, Iowa. Thank you Obama campaign staff, volunteers, precinct captains and donors. You have made me a very happy gal.
Now, let us remember that I get weepy over the most pathetically lame movies and commercials, so it's not like making me cry is that tricky. But I tell ya, last night's caucus coverage had me shedding tears all over the place. When I heard that over 300,000 people turned out, I got teary-eyed. It's as if the weight of this country's apathy was being slowly lifted, one corn-fed voter at a time. Coverage showed rooms full of caucus-goers, with their hands raised, waiting to be counted. More tears. I don't know if they were voting for Huckabee or Obama or even Biden...it just made me happy that, young and old, white and whiter, left the comfort of their warm homes on a bitter cold night, and rocked their vote.
Perhaps my favorite part of the results was that Obama won among women voters. Hillary thinks she gets me, but she totally doesn't. Maybe Obama doesn't get me but at least he's not presumptuous about it. He'd be all, "Mary...I don't get you. What is your deal?" And then he'd audaciously hope to understand my explanation.
I am fully prepared to get pissed off at some of Obama's decisions if he becomes President. I would be pissed off at some of any human being's decisions if he/she was President. There are two reasons for this: 1)I sometimes like to get pissed off because it feels good to misdirect my anger and/or obsess on things I can not control 2)if I had the same exact thoughts as any other human being, then that would just be freaky and I'd be too busy being part of a sci-fi movie to care about politics. But, even though he's bound to piss me off now and then, there are many reasons why I think Obama is the clear choice for President. I agree with the majority of his policy proposals and I am confident that they're not just a bunch of bull someone wrote up for him. I bet you a dollar he carries that stuff through. That's right. ONE DOLLAR. Also, I think he has the confidence, humility, intelligence, experience, and good 'ol fashioned people skills to begin the extremely important task of repairing relationships with other countries/people who think we're a bunch of whiney little jingoistic bitches. This is how to "fight the war on terror." Sure we need to protect ourselves and have a defense system and all that but maybe we should think about addressing why there are so many evildoers wanting to do all the evil. Also, he'll support our troops in a real way by getting them the hell out of Iraq, instead of just crapping a load of dumb yellow ribbon magnets and corny shallow patriotic phrases that really make no sense.
And last but not least, I believe in all this hope stuff he keeps jabbering on about. I truly do. Those who thinks it's corny BS, should throw out their grumpy pants and try some hoping themselves. I don't care if you'd never vote for Obama in a million years, you can not tell me that that wasn't an amazing speech last night. Obama's delivery is incredible but his speechwriter deserves a cookie. That business about hope being the bedrock of our nation...it sounds kind of trite and corny but HELLO, people! IT'S TRUE. And, it made me cry.
I love this country. I truly do. I have driven across it seven times and seen many nooks in crannies in almost all 50 states. I absolutely love stopping in small towns and chatting with friendly locals, who shares their town pride and local culture with me. The United States is freaking incredible. Mount Ranier? Good god, that's beautiful. New Orleans gumbo? I'll have two helpings, please. The northern friggin lights?? DUDE...the sky has green stripes! The Jersey shore?! Hand me my hairspray and let's do it! And good 'ol Chicago. I fall more deeply in love every day.
I love this country because I can say that I can't stand George Bush. That is an amazing right. I love this country because there's a long history of hope leading to change. It pisses me off that gay people do not have equal rights as straight people. But I hope that changes. And by hope, I mean I continue to bitch about it and vote for changes and advocate for gay rights, because I've seen how those actions have led to change in the past. Obama's speech last night made me cry not just because he's a good speaker. What he says is the truth. There are people who died for my right to vote. DIED. Ensuring future generations rights was more important to them, then their own life. There are people who died for Obama's right to sit at the front of a bus. I don't really know if I'd be willing to die for such noble causes, but I am occasionally overwhelmed with gratitude at the selflessness of those that came before me. It at least makes me want to get off my ass and vote.
I also got weepy because my own status as an American citizen is the result of hope in action. My own grandmother left her friends and family in Italy at 17 to go to New York and marry a stranger 13 years older then her, because there was hope that there would be a better life for her and future generations here. Now I have opportunities generations before me may not have been able to fathom.
Also, Mitt Romney freaks me out and I'm glad he wasn't able to buy himself a win. And kudos to Edwards for taking second.
My old pal, Eunice, who died at the ripe old age of 98, was a huge Kerry supporter. When Bush was elected, she said in her thick Jamaican accent, "This country is fulla fools." Her dislike towards Bush could only be matched by her dislike towards the Yankees. I had a long talk with Eunice yesterday morning. I told her that I was sorry that she wasn't around to get involved in Barack's campaign, because I know he's the kind of person she'd love. I told her that maybe now that she's on the other side, she might be able to do a different kind of campaigning. Who knows if she did, but the thought of a sweet little Iowan waking up to a Jamaican old lady's voice in their head, "Chile...don't be a fool....you go and cast your vote for Mr. Obama"...well that just makes me happy.
I like 2008 so far.
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