Yes We Can!

i voted for the first time in my life yesterday and it felt wonderful. ive never been very interested in politics or really bothered to pay attention since i never thought it affected my life too much but with the recent downfall of the economy, war in iraq and federal deficit, im beginning to realize just how important it is to make your voice heard. for a lot of californians, it may seem that our vote doesnt matter too much since its pretty much a sure thing that our state will be blue but just to be a part of the process and filling out my ballot gave me a sense of empowerment that i was taking part in having a say in the direction of our country. it probably didnt hurt that this was or is one of the most exciting political times in history and it was pretty near impossible to not get swept up in the movement.

i didnt always start out as an obama supporter. in fact, i was desperately hoping for hillary to win the nomination but when that didnt happen, i was undecided for a while and even considered voting for mccain. that is until he made sarah palin his running mate for vice president and while i did feel bad for her last night seeing her tear up while watching mccain give his concession speech, i have to remind myself that she would of been one step away from being our president and that was just too scary of a thought for everyone. seriously, she makes me seem qualified to run for office and i cringed everytime she spoke during her debate although i did come out of that a fervent supporter of biden.

and it all culminated last night when i attended an election party and just being around so many obama supporters when it was announced that he had won was a moment i will never forget. everyone was clapping, cheering, even crying that one couldnt help being moved. watching his victory speech gave me goosebumps and filled me with a sense of hope for the future that maybe just maybe he will be able to turn things around for the better. how can you possibly not be inspired? yes we can! out on the streets people were celebrating everywhere, cars honking left and right, firecrackers were going off and i even walked into a hailstorm of confetti although i think the girl may just have been sweeping the roof but who cares really.

the only downside to all this was that prop 8 passed which i was extremely disappointed with and yet the majority of the people had no problem with voting for more fair treatment of chickens? whats wrong with this picture? most of the other propositions went the way i had voted and it was so exciting to actually know what they were for as i spent some time reading up on them and trying to be informed. all in all it was a great night yesterday and im grateful that i was able to a part of it.