Ok, he won me over...

Barak Obama, that is.

You probably know how reluctant I was to vote for someone so "young" and so liked by Oprah, LOL. But common sense has finally prevailed.

First, I have to thank Sheila for posting the speech so that I could view it. I hadn't even heard about it until I stopped by her blog. :-)

I liked McCain when he was running against Bush. (I don't remember which Bush it was.) I am usually more "conservative" in my politics than not. (Hard to believe, I know.) But I'm honestly tired to death of Dubya & what's going on in this country.

I'm OVER the war. He lied to us. He took advantage of us right after 9/11 by saying this war was about terrorism & Bin Laden.

Honestly, I didn't care what the war was about when it started. I was pissed off that someone (anyone) had the nerve to come to my country & blow up the Twin Towers. I wanted revenge.

Whatever Dubya's true intentions were when he started this war, we may never know. But we do know that it's not working.

There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters & children are over there dying.

The soldiers coming home are NOT BEING TREATED (this war & past wars) for the mental issues that they bring home. They are worried about being dishonorably discharged or thinking that they aren't "Man enough" if they seek some help.

Gas prices are going through the roof.

The economy is tanking.

People are losing their jobs by the millions because labor is cheaper in India.

People are dying here because they have no health insurance. (And even with health insurance, treatment is sometimes too expensive to afford.)

Welfare makes women kick their husbands/baby daddies out of the home to get any help.

Welfare to work helps women with NO JOB get help paying for daycare. But it does nothing for the working poor (Which is what I was. Paying almost as much for daycare as I did for rent when I was working.)

I could go on and on.

I took great interest in this race. More interest than in any race before.

I'm sick and tired of what is happening to my country.

There are issues that we, as a nation, have not resolved.

Then every 2 or 4 years when it's time to vote, we get distracted by who said what & it's almost NEVER related to THE ISSUES.

So I listened to Obama's speech.

I was amazed.

I'd really never heard him speak before other than little snippets on various shows.

No one else in this race could have given that speech.

As he said, he has people from ALL races in his family. He can understand the anger & resentment that black people feel about racism & past wrongs that have never been addressed. He can understand that white people feel like foreigners are taking their jobs & the resentment that they feel about Affirmative Action & other "Black" issues.

He can understand because he IS America. He IS a melting pot. He IS the American Dream.

And he believes that he can help change what needs to be changed in this country in order to make it "a more perfect union."

I believe him. Watch the speech and see if you don't feel some hope & belief in him too.