My Vote Goes to...

This will be the third presidential election that I'll be participating in. I was first able to vote at the ripe age of 18--I was a freshman in college and still under the heavy influence of my religious background. The year was 2000 and I don't remember why I felt voting for Bush would be a good idea, but that is, indeed-while completely embarassing to admit, who I ended up voting for.

Oh how my political views have changed. I used to think that my "Republican" political views were the correct way to go. I was a good (err, relatively) church-going Mormon gal who believed that abortion was bad and that gays should not get married. But did I believe those things because I really took the time to ponder them and make the decision myself, or was I just going with what my parents thought was the best way to vote? I didn't think about those things back then, but looking back on that era, I wasn't yet the loose shaking, free-thinker I am today.

It's not that I wanted to feel like a rebel. In the time between that first virgin voter ballot and where I stand today are the things I've learned on the road along the way. I went to college, I shunned my religion (and all organized religion for that matter), I met gay people - discovered many of whom were already my friends, I saw homelessness and mental illness on the streets when I traveled to work, I divorced my return missionary Mormon husband, I contemplated abortion (thank goodness it was a false alarm), and then I realized: all this is happening to just me, so what about everyone else? Who is going to help them? Who exactly will understand my--OUR--side?
It was a slow transition actually, because my family had always shown such disdain for "left wing liberals" but when the elections would come around, I found myself frantically searching for the alternative to voting Republican. And it wasn't about the party system - it was about lining up my views and making decisions based on what MY opinions are - not any one political ideology. Gay marriages? YES. A woman's right to choose? YES YES YES. Taking care of the environment and coming up with alternative energy sources? ABSOLUTELY, YES. I don't think these views make me a democrat; however, they do make me proud to say, yes, I am a liberal, albeit one who votes fairly independently and sometimes against what you might think I would (that's for another post, another day).

So with that little bit of background on my political evolution, I'm happy to say I will be voting for Barack Obama for President. We need someone in office who will continue to protect civil rights, improve the battered economy and find ways to move the country FORWARD into the future. It's not reform we need, it's innovation and that's where I feel Barack Obama will come into play.