Inspiration
I sent this e-mail to conservative members of my family last night after Obama’s incredible and historic acceptance speech:
I was inspired tonight more than I have been in a long time. And I know it’s risky to be telling my family why I was so inspired, but I just can’t help it!
You can choose to ignore this message, laugh it off as me being a “Godless communist baby-killer,” or you can choose to step outside your own personal comfort zone and open your mind to hearing what the other side has to say. Whatever decision you choose, I promise this is the ONLY e-mail I will be sending to you all concerning what is going on in our amazing country this year, so don’t worry about me spreading my liberal disease much more than this e-mail (except for maybe my bumper stickers).
I just wanted to send you all this link to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech that he gave in front of 84,000 supporters in Denver on Thursday night:
I usually try to avoid bringing up politics with my family because let’s face it, I’m the “outcast” when it comes to politics in this family. I don’t mind being the outcast one bit, in fact I kind of love it. If we want America to change for the BETTER, we have to start thinking differently. Or maybe just taking a look at our history and thinking about what our nation’s founders had in mind for this place.
I have great respect for John McCain. He is a true hero who went through hell for this country and we should all be proud to have such a man serving our country and running for office. He is a good politician and works hard for what he believes in and I commend him for that. It’s important to realize that both John McCain and Barack Obama are both patriots who love this country and only want the best for all of us. They just disagree on how to go about doing this. And honestly, I see no difference in McCain’s plan for America than we’ve had for the past eight years with Bush.
Now I have heard from a few of you that you no longer approve of how Bush is handling this country. Keep in mind that before Bush was elected in 2000, gas prices were at an average of $1.46/gallon. AND WE COMPLAINED ABOUT IT! Can you imagine how AWESOME it would be to pay $1.46 for a gallon of gas these days? There are a hundred reasons why our gas prices have gone up, and you can blame Bush or the war or the oil companies all you want, but it solves NOTHING. What we need to be looking at is the FUTURE of our country. There are plenty of other energy resources that are cheaper, cleaner, and more efficient. America is the greatest nation of all time, and we have to work hard to make sure we have the best economy, the best educational facilities, the best military, the best healthcare system, and the best energy policies.
So why do I think Obama is the better choice? Because McCain has supported Bush 90% of the time. That’s an obvious warning sign that four years of McCain means four more years of Bush’s failed policies. And I URGE you to think thoroughly about this on Election Day. Now you may disagree with Obama on some issues, such as abortion and other things, but I encourage you to look at the bigger picture. Obama is pro-choice, but he wants to work harder to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. He is standing up for his beliefs but also trying to appeal to those that disagree with him to reach a compromise. He has a history of working with both Democrats and Republicans to actually GET THINGS DONE and make our country the best it can be. Let me share with you a quote from Obama that he said during the 2004 Democratic convention:
“It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: “E pluribus unum,” out of many, ONE. Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.”
McCain has been trying to label Obama as a celebrity. He can go ahead and do it. I see NOTHING wrong with a political figure inspiring millions of people to volunteer and work for this country to make it a better place. It saddens me to see how many young people in this country are completely apathetic when it comes to politics and our country. But Obama has been changing that. He is actually inspiring the young people of this country to start caring about their future. That has to count for something. I mean, the children are the future, right??
Now there are plenty of false rumors out there about Obama’s character. There are some trying to say he is a Muslim. First of all, I assure you he is not. He believes in Christianity and he is a member of the United Church of Christ. But second of all, I wonder why it would be a bad thing for a Muslim to run for President anyway? I mean isn’t that one of the main reasons we came to America in the first place – to escape religious persecution? It doesn’t matter though. Those that stand for good and decency will always be smeared with nonsense to try to control the opinions of those who are too lazy to do the research and find out the facts for themselves. You can find out more about these silly smears here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome. I have heard of so many Republicans who are simply fed up with Bush and those like him (McCain!) and who are listening to Obama to see what he has to say. I encourage you to do the same.
I would be happy to talk more about why I support Obama and his wonderful family, and I would also be happy to shut up and not mention it again to you all. I just felt like I would not be doing my part if I didn’t share my inspiration with the people I love most. So go ahead and label me the crazy liberal in the family or whatever, I care not. My hope is that you will at least research BOTH candidates and not believe everything you hear on television or through some ignorant e-mail about Obama being a terrorist or some other nonsense. I know it is annoying to actually have to look something up, but sometimes it takes some work to find out what’s best for this country, right? I challenge you to try and think outside the box in this election, even if it means you still end up voting for McCain on Election Day. I just don’t want you to feel scared of voting for Obama because he’s a Democrat. We’re not evil. We’re Americans too and we love this country just as much as you do. And I believe in my heart that Obama has the ability to bring in a new era of politics to America and make us even stronger than we already are.
