Oh! Bama…

I am delighted to be part of this year’s Presidential election. Not only is it my first time voting for a president, it is also the first time that I strongly support a political candidate.

Although I always exercised my right to vote since I turned 18, no one in my family ever knew who I would be voting for. I grew up in Puerto Rico, where politics is considered a sport and most people support their team… no matter what. Even when their team captain (aka Candidate) might be investigated by the FBI, which is the case of one of the candidates for Governor in this year’s election.

Also, almost everyone in my family, if not all, strongly supports one of the main political parties (also no matter what), and I always had a hard time agreeing with their perspective on politics. Thus, I kept my mouth shut and I avoided the confrontation.

Though, this year, I am not the only one in my family voting for a Presidential candidate, and it just so happens that we strongly disagree on who should become our next President. Some of the reasons are based on those “fundamental differences” that have been depicted by the candidates over and over again, that do not leave room for compromising, but, some other reasons are based on pure “media buzz”, and this time, I am not keeping my mouth shut.

I’ve followed the candidates’ debates, read up on about how they got where they are at, have been watching CNN for a more detail coverage of the campaign trail and have kept my eyes open for whatever comes up on the Internet and news. And, one of the most recent “media buzz” reasons my relative uses in her argument is Obama’s “relationship to 1960’s radical William Ayers”. My argument has been, in simple words, that I don’t think the United States would be so dumb as to let anyone that could potentially be a threat to the Nation get even slightly close to running for president. Last time I checked, we still had the US Department of Homeland Security.

Thus, I was satisfied to read that former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is supporting Barack Obama’s campaign. Not only does this support my argument, but it also reminds us that this election goes well beyond political denomination, race and/or gender. It all comes down to who has the skills, ability and knowledge to get the United States back on track. I moved to the United States because this was, growing up, the land of opportunities. Now, as I also fear about what my future will hold as the economy keeps shacking us up, I trust Obama’s competence to do just that.

Oh, Vote OBAMA!

To read the article about Powell’s endorsement, check out this link: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/20/powell.endorsement/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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