Forget white or black, male or female, young or old…I know that part of the reason the US is currently an international joke is because our leaders, have abused their power. They sent our youth to fight a war based on lies, deregulated everything in the hopes that greedy capitalists would police themselves, and preyed on the xenophobia and fears of the populous. When will the American people grow tired of politicians who are nothing but a collection of sound bites, who tell bold face lies to gain our trust and who do the opposite of what they say they will?

When I decided who my presidential candidate was, I took several things into account: principle, character, heart and policy. I chose Barak Obama because I see that he truly has a heart for the middle class, working person. He believes in the American Dream because he is living it. He knows and understands that we workers are the nation’s economic wheel. That the reason for the current economic collapse is because the middle class has been bled dry by weasels in the finance industry who were allowed to run amok by the Bush administration. He will not let the country continue disregarding its people in the name of faux national security. And while there are points on which I strongly disagree with Obama (namely his support of Israeli Zionism), I will vote for him because I still think he is the right person for the job.

When I watched the debates over the last couple weeks I noticed that neither of the candidates really said much with substance. I was however, disgusted by John McCain’s "I’ve been around for a long time" cadence combined with his co-opting of the "campaign for change." On top of this, he selected a running mate who doesn’t know the office she’s running for is part of the Executive Branch or what the Bush Doctrine is, who makes up lies about the other candidate’s financial plan because she doesn’t know that only 3% of the population makes over $200k annually and whose idea of a debate is sticking to the talking points given her by her campaign managers (regardless of the question asked). I’d say we, as a nation, are screwed if team McCain/Palin gets elected to the White House.

It frustrates me that there are people who will vote for them. Who actually believe the bile that came out of Palin’s mouth last Thursday and are comforted by old man McCain. It saddens me to think that there are people who will vote for McCain just to vote against the black man and that there are people who will vote for Obama for the same reason. Although both positions are symptoms of ignorance, the later at least indicates some sort of hope on the part of certain sectors of the population, while the former is a symptom of racism. Hopefully the educated, silent majority to exercise their voices come Novemeber and allow Barak Obama to be the catalyst for change this nation is in dire need of.