Most of the time I stay away from the whole national politics because local politics matter more. Because local people will improve schools, fight crime, support business and improve their fellow citizen’s quality of life. So I’m going to try to tie in my plea to the local.
Please vote for Sen. Barak Obama next week. And let me state a few reasons why and hopefully this may convince you. For one, he has a better chance of an overwhelming victory and possibly a longer honeymoon period than Sen. Clinton. Clinton is divisive and she just may energize conservatives to fight like cornered rabid pit bulls. A woman president is possible, but I don’t think she is the one. It’s not just Democrats voting for President, but Independents, Republicans and the rest of Purple America. As a moderate conservative, Obama’s message of hope and possibility appeals to me, even though his left leaning doesn’t. In that appeal he can bring us together as a country, and maybe even move us beyond the divisions of red and blue that divides us and work on the things that unite us. Imagine spending less time bickering about the things we know we disagree about and more time working on the things we do agree on.
And if you haven’t noticed, he’s black and he’s not your typical old style black politician. There was something that he said that took hold of my heart as he described himself and those of the like as the Joshua Generation, the generation who have moved into the Promised Land**. I am grateful for the struggle that previous generations endured so I can see myself as an equal and succeed. However the old style black politicking is well, old, and in some ways destructive when dealing with non-blacks. Obama and his message, as President, can change the tone of black politics, and DC politics IS black politics (maybe on the other side of the Park it isn’t). A change in tone can benefit all Washingtonians, since race plays such a major role in our local politics.
So please do your part by changing the tone and moving into the promise and voting for the man who can inspire and unite. Since I’m not a Democrat I can’t make that move and the best I can do is ask you to do it for me, and spread the idea of hope, unity and change.
I’m not allowing comments because I rather have a conversation with you face to face.
UPDATE: Got an email from a fellow Truxtonian about donations that will be matched making your contribution go even further donate.barackobama.com/match. Or you can just donate the plain non-matching way.
**This hearkens to the imagery of Dr. ML King’s speech about being on the mountain top the promised land and the biblical story of Exodus. Moses and MLK led the people in the direction of the promised land. In the case of the Israelites they had to wander the desert for 40 years, but those who left Egppt as slaves could not enter the promised land. It has been explained to me (and this is just one interpretation) that Moses’ generation carried with them that slave mentality, that yearning for Egypt, and the next generation, Joshua, was free of that, and it was that generation that could enter.