It's over. Months and months of campaigning, canvassing, primaries, results and poll watching, news reading, complaints, negativity, excitement, and apathy (from some) - and we've now finally elected our next president. I, for one, am very excited. I know, however, that a lot of people feel quite the opposite. This election has been kind of eye-opening to me. It's revealed some things about myself as well as the people I know or have known over the years. And I never thought online social networking would be the tool to reveal these things, but it has. I've made it very obvious that I have supported Obama for quite a while, I believe. So have some of my friends. I guess I should consider myself lucky, though - I've never gotten quite the rude messages that they have, at least not directly to me. One of them received a very huffy comment telling him that he'd "sold his soul for a black president" and that America would now be run by "a man who delights in murdering babies". Oh, and apparently the values are gone in America and Obama as president is God's judgment upon us. Wow - are you for real? I've seen several comments about Obama being a "baby killer". To me - it's difficult to understand... ok wait, I take that back - it's not difficult to understand, it's just SAD to me that someone can be so set on thinking that their way is the only way and that they are so very RIGHT in how they see the world that they would resort to childish name-calling. I've also seen people be so very negative about the government that they can't even find a single positive thing to say about it. So instead they choose to consistently voice their negativity. Ok, I get that's how you see things, and you're entitled to that. But I'd rather choose to look for the positive and maybe have some hope. Yes, I support Obama. Yes, I voted for him. And I actually took some time beforehand to learn a little bit about the man that was receiving my vote for the highest office in the nation. You see - to me a vote is a very important thing, not something I give away lightly. Another thing that's surprised me during the election process is how little it means to some people, especially considering how hard some people groups have worked to obtain this privilege. I heard people complain on election day that they wished it wasn't election day so they didn't have to get out of bed to go vote. I've heard countless people talk about how sick they are of hearing about the election. And I've talked to people that just "hate politics" and voting was barely more than one more chore in their day. You know - I'll admit, I got sick of hearing about it too. So I CAN'T IMAGINE how sick of all of it John McCain or Barack Obama must be. I used to think that everyone should go vote. It's a privilege that we're lucky to have, so you should go take advantage of it, basically just because. I no longer feel that way. If you don't care, if you know pretty much nothing about the candidates, or if you're just voting because everyone says it's important, DON'T. Please, don't even take part in the election process. Leave it to the people that do care, that are informed. And even though Obama was the candidate I chose to vote for and support - I have nothing against John McCain or Hillary Clinton or even Sarah Palin. I believe John McCain is a very intelligent man that would've done a decent job of leading our country. I think Hillary Clinton is a very powerful woman that also would've done a sufficient job. I think Sarah Palin is also an intelligent woman who was chosen for a position that she wasn't quite prepared enough for, but could be in a few years. If any of the other candidates had won, I have no doubt that they would've served our country as best they could. So yes - it's all finally over. But in other ways - it's just begun.

I'll probably be blogging about the election soon, but for now - here's a pretty cool map from Google of election results by state. For detailed info about each state (like a county breakdown) - click on the state. Note that Indiana is blue - for the first time in over 40 years. Woohoo! :)

Yesterday was a big day here in Indiana. For the first time in a really long time, people came out in droves and voted in a primary election. This is the one opportunity we had to really make our votes count. Whether you voted on a Democrat or Republican ballot, whether you voted for Clinton, Obama, McCain, Paul, or someone else - your vote still counted. You can tell yourself "I'm only one vote, what difference does it make?" or "I voted for Ron Paul, he won't win anyway." - but the truth is that if all the people that think that would go vote anyway - you just might make a difference. Here's my example. I'm just one vote, right? But I'm a very passionate vote. I'm a declared Barack Obama supporter. Everyone around me knows it. I've talked about it, and I've talked about why I think what I do. And on top of that, I've gone out and knocked on doors to talk to people about it. I took a vacation day from work to talk to people about it. And I know, for a fact, that my vote - because I've been so passionate about it - has influenced at least a minimum of 4 other people to vote for the candidate that I support. Those are just 4 people that I can specifically name. I have no doubts that I've influenced more than that. I did take yesterday, primary day here, off of work to volunteer for the Obama campaign. I spent the morning out by myself in a neighborhood of big, expensive houses knocking on doors and encouraging people to go vote. I left information for those not at home about where to go vote. I spent the afternoon painting a huge "OBAMA" sign that I helped hold up at a corner by a local high school/polling location and on an overpass over a very busy interstate. And I got a sunburn from all that time spent outside - but I had an absolute blast and enjoyed every second of it. I wouldn't do a single thing differently, either yesterday or on any of the time I've spent on the Obama campaign. I can't even say I'm really too disappointed that Obama "lost" Indiana. Hillary was predicted to win it, and since we're not an "all or nothing" delegate state, the delegates were split almost evenly. So for yesterday - my candidate still came out ahead overall. And what I'm really proud and excited about - is that Hamilton County - my county - voted for Obama at a percentage of 61 to 39. I know that that's due in no uncertain terms at least partially to passionate voters like myself and the amazing people I've worked with over the last few days and weeks. People that have believed in something so much that they are willing to devote their time and energy to doing their absolute best to make sure that it happens. People whose enthusiasm and commitment shows through enough to make the people around them reflect on what exactly it is that makes them care so much, enough to turn a vote or cause someone to visit the polls that originally wouldn't have. Why should I be disappointed? I had fun, met some awesome people and built relationships that I already had, and saw evidence that I made a difference. You know why I decided to become actively involved in the Obama campaign? I mean, it's one thing to say you support a particular candidate - it's quite another to get so actively involved in their campaign, right? Honestly - it almost came down to "why not?" I decided I thought Obama would make a great next president, so why shouldn't I work to get him there? If nothing else, I know I'm contributing to history being made, and I'll never look back on it with regret.

If you're planning on voting in the primaries in Indiana on Tuesday, but don't know much about the candidates other than the ones running for president, you're not alone. I found this great Voter's Guide on the Indianapolis Star's website. Go here and under Voter's Guide: Build Your Ballot, enter your address and it will come up with a list of the candidates for whichever primary you're voting in, along with a summary of their positions on the issues. I found this very useful as I was trying to get informed and ready for Tuesday's primary. Hope it helps! :)

Ok, I've had people pestering me for details and the story regarding how I ended up at the Obama rally in Plainfield (and then on TV!) a couple of weeks ago, so here's the scoop... Ever since I decided that I was planning to vote for (and support) Barack Obama for president, I've really made no secret of that and even taken some steps towards actively being a supporter of his campaign. I've gone to meetings about voter registration drives, and even made a small donation to the campaign. And, of course, I'm still in the middle of reading his first book right now as well. So when I first read on the Indianapolis Star website that he was going to be in town, I made it my intention to be there. The closest I've come to meeting a president was back when Dan Quayle was vice-president and I met his wife, Marilyn, with a group from my school. So not only would it be cool to make it to hear someone who might be elected president, hearing the candidate that I was supporting really sounded like something I was willing to put some effort into making happen. Once I found out about Senator Obama planning to visit Indiana, I kept an eye out on the Indy Star site for more details. Then while I was at lunch with some co-workers a few days before he was scheduled to be here, I got an email on my smartphone from Obama's mailing list. He was going to be in Plainfield, and the email contained a link to click for free tickets. I couldn't get the link to load on my phone, so a co-worker lent me her iPhone and I signed up on there. I instantly got an email back with my ticket. One of the co-workers I was with signed up as well, but never received the email with a ticket, unfortunately. I got back to work and checked the site again about an hour later - tickets were gone. Apparently they were gone within a half hour. I got SO lucky! The more and more I hear of/about Obama, the more I like the guy and hope he is elected president, so I was VERY excited that I was going to get to hear him speak in person. That Saturday I made the 45-minute drive to Plainfield and waited outside Plainfield High School in the chilly air (and a bit of rain) with around 2000 other Obama supporters, many sporting Obama buttons and t-shirts. There were even some "Barackerchiefs" (c'mon, people - aren't we taking this a bit too far??). Once I made it inside the building and through the metal detector, I was actually there somewhat early. There was a choice of sitting in chairs set up in the gym or on the bleachers. Thinking I'd be up a little higher, I chose the bleachers - but they made us start in the very front row, all the way over in the corner, so I was no higher than anyone sitting in a chair. However, I was right over by the door Obama was going to be walking in through. I was sitting next to a lady probably around my age (I never caught her name) and we soon started observing how one of the Obama staffers (I'm assuming that's what she was, she might've just been a volunteer) was picking people out of the crowd to go up and sit on the stage right behind the podium. There were about 50 chairs set up there, and the staffer lady was selecting a diverse crowd, presumably to show how diverse Obama's supporters were. She chose the guy right behind us, an older black guy with a union jacket on, several middle-age women (Hillary's key demographic?), some Plainfield High School students, and some more union workers. Getting tired of seeing her pick all of these people out of the crowd and completely skim over us, I actually asked her if she needed some more younger white women up there. (I'm direct, I know.) ;-) Her response - "maybe. I'll keep you in mind." Finally - we saw an exchange between her and the lady working up on the stage - there were 3 seats left... down to the wire. Myself, the lady next to me, and another guy sitting beside us gave our most earnest plea (and puppy dog eyes!) and got the response "ok, I have 3 seats left - get up there!" YAY! Success!! After being told no phone calls or bathroom breaks during the rally, we made a quick bathroom run and some phone calls to family/friends ("I'm going to be on TV!"), we took our seats in the back row directly behind where Senator Obama was speaking. I liked what he had to say (you can view the speech here - and I'm in the back under the E ;-) ) and the energy in the place was great. I know everyone thinks he's a smooth talker, and he really is. But if he's genuine, I see nothing wrong with that. And my experience of the man is that he IS genuine and really does want to do what he can to create change in our country. After the speech and question/answer session, Senator Obama made a trip around the outside of the crowd shaking hands and such. He also came over to the people on stage and shook all our hands - very cool. All in all - it was a great experience, one that not everyone gets to have. I felt privileged to be there - not only to hear Obama speak, but also to be among the diverse group of supporters he's generated here in Indiana.

Well, I guess it's out. I'm officially a supporter of Barack Obama for president. If the button over on the sidebar of my blog wasn't enough, I've now been shown on national television behind him at a rally. So I guess this would mean it's time for me to post that blog about where I am with politics and the presidential election - the one that's been rattling around in my head for a little while now. In the last presidential election in 2004, I voted only in the general election, and I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik. While I wasn't completely apathetic about the whole thing at that point, my involvement in the election mostly consisted of watching the debates on television and deciding that I really didn't want Bush OR Kerry to be president. I knew I didn't want Bush, and to me, John Kerry seemed to be not much more than the Bush alternative. It seemed like if he won - it would really just be because he wasn't "Dubya". I wasn't exactly voting just for the lesser of the evils, though - I don't completely disagree with some of the Libertarian stances. Now - here we are in 2008, preparing to elect a new president again. And I really had been mostly ignoring the media hype surrounding all of it up until the last few months, when I decided I would do some research and see what I thought about the candidates. My thoughts behind picking the candidate I vote for are honestly not all about the issues. There, I said it. That's not to say that I don't think the issues are important, because I do. But, well, there are a LOT of issues. Think about it - each presidential candidate really has it hard trying to win over voters because there are so many different things that concern so many different people. You've got people that will vote for the issues, and people that will vote for the person. And of the people that vote for the issues, you've got people that care about the war in Iraq, and then you've got people that care about taxes or energy. And when it comes right down to it - it's hard to say exactly which or what of these issues the president will effectively be able to act out their stance on when they even get into office. Who knows what may happen. So - while the issues do matter to me, ultimately I am choosing the person that I want to lead my country, not the person whose stance most closely matches mine on all the issues. With that in mind, I began to look at the candidates. I really just can't see myself as a Republican, and while I don't think John McCain is a bad candidate at all, I don't really want another Republican in the White House right now. Ron Paul is another Republican candidate whose views lean more towards Libertarian, and I don't really think I want to vote Libertarian again this time. Honestly - it's pretty easy to tell that a Libertarian candidate isn't likely to be elected anytime soon. And personally - I think their stances on things kind of amount to ideals that would be really hard to make happen with our country in it's current state. I agree with them that the government is involved sometimes where it shouldn't be, but I also think there are some places where the government will always be involved, and the best choice is to use that for advantage instead of fighting it. That leaves the Democratic candidates, but I really didn't come to my decision to support Obama by process of elimination. Hillary does just rub me the wrong way, and I continue to feel that way the more "mud-slinging" I see done by those in her campaign. But I actually did some research on Obama. And I think the first thing that got me leaning over to his side was finding out that after college, he became a community organizer for lower-income communities in Chicago. That meant something to me because it's after my own heart, obviously. I volunteer for an organization that reaches out to homeless and at-risk youth, so to me it made Obama begin to be a candidate I could possibly really get behind and support. So I started to try to find out more about Senator Obama and his background and what kind of person he was. I'm currently reading his book - not The Audacity of Hope, the one that talks about his vision for the future. I'm interested in that one and plan on reading it at some point. But right now I'm reading his first book, Dreams From My Father, which is more of an autobiography - written before anyone really knew who he was. And the more I read, the more I like the man and would like to see how he would do as our next president. All of this leads me to the exciting week that I've had - and how I wound up behind Obama on national TV. But that's another blog post. ;)