Why Obama

My nephew Matthew, soon to be 9 years old, asked my why I was voting for Obama. He lives in Texas and his family is true "red". What Matthew does not know is that while we are young we follow our parents or peers' views. So when I was young I would vote exactly as my parents for I trusted their integrity. As an adult, I must trust myself to choose with integrity. Based on what I hope for the future, for Matthew's future, I began researching more of what it was about Obama that called me to vote for him. It really was nothing against McCain; it is more that Obama represents a hopeful change. A change that will make not only the US better but the world. Obama does not seem red or blue. Obama captures what I hope to be the future of America which is really no longer red or blue but purple, the blend of the best of both the red republicans and the blue democrats. America's borders surrounded and "protected by water" no longer need to be protected but to protect the entire world's freedom. For me I have become hopeful for a global republic, based on the concept that sovereignty resides in the people, who delegate the power to rule in their behalf to elected representatives and officials. We need to choose wisely all leaders.

I would say I am both republican and democrat as I want government "these leaders we choose" that supports people and supports peoples' ability to achieve success measured by freedom for all rights. However, as we have seen with the financial crisis we are in, we need a just government made up of people with integrity to doing the right thing. Do we raise taxes? Probably we need to raise taxes. Why? We have a war to fund, we have our collapsed banking and capital markets system without it's propping up by "the people" (the people being defined as the taxpayers), all companies big and small would not meet payroll.

It's a huge cycle of dependence and responsibility. We depend on every person, particularly those leading companies and countries to have integrity and for us "the people" to have integrity. Both candidates have the capacity to lead, both candidates have the capacity for integrity. Who is the best choice, for me I choose Obama for his integrity to his campaign focus and for the work he did as senator and his commitment to the poor. Obama recognizes that poverty whether here in the US or globally affects all of us. As people become fed and housed and educated, they desire better lives and wants; everything we call the "American dream". Obama will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and he "we" will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal. He "we" will help the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth. This too will cost us tax dollars, but in the end we will all have better lives if everyone has a better life.

I think we need a change in the government, in corporate business leadership and in us. A change of attitudes where people have integrity to truth, to justice and to caring for one another. We need to change ourselves and take personal responsibility for living beyond our means, for being complacent in our work, our eating, our religious commitments, and our personal commitments.
I am choosing to be personally responsible to my vote and to the winner whoever it is, so that we galvanize as a country and become once again a people who represent freedom for all.