This is my very first diary. On February 11, 2008, a friend and I were among the 17,000 who were inspired by Barack Obama at a rally in Baltimore. The morning of the rally, my friend, who is a republican, wrote a letter to Obama, hoping to get close enough to greet him and give him the letter. However, we were seated too far away.
I read my friend’s letter and was truly inspired. And while the Maryland primary has long since passed, her words still ring true. I am sharing this letter, as it is a testament to why Senator Barack Obama should and will be our next president of the United States.
Dear Senator Obama,
I should begin by saying – or warning – I am a Republican. I have always voted Republican. And as logic would follow, I voted for George W. Bush.
I was raised by conservative parents. My father served his country in the Air Force, proudly, for 20 years and I was dragged with him, all over this country and all over the world. I grew up a proud American. A Patriot. Devoted to this great country. And seeing it, perhaps, through rose colored lenses.
Flash forward to the present, my devotion to this country is undiminished, my patriotism unwavering. But as an adult, the rose colored lenses have been lost. I am disillusioned. I am disenchanted. I am disappointed. I am a pessimist, hiding behind the pretense of realism. We have after all, fallen far from grace, and the light of Camelot, has long been dark.
My husband and I each work a full time job, and a part time job, in what feels more and more like a futile effort to make ends meet. We would like to have children, but are smart enough and responsible enough to know that we have to give them the very best, and we cannot afford it. We are buried under my education loans of over $70,000.00. And I wasn’t even able to finish my degree because I ran out of resources. It seems that more and more, the part time job simply finances the gasoline at well over $3.00 a gallon, to get us to our full time jobs. I spend what free time I have fighting with my HMO over tests my doctor ordered, but they do not want to pay. I have not seen my family in over four years because none of us have the means to travel the 3,000 miles. And each election as a county, as a state, and as a nation we vote, not for the person telling the greatest number of truths, but for the person who seems to be telling the fewest number of lies. We have resigned ourselves to this reality – this America.
I have for quite some time been aware of your career in the senate, a casual observer only, having labeled and dismissed you as a Democrat. And when my husband shared with me his enthusiasm for you and his hope that you would run for president, in response to your ethnicity, Senator, I asked him, "but, do you really think he can win?" I am nothing, if not practical. Practical to the point of cynical. And cynicism does not leave room for hope. It does not leave room for enthusiasm that might be blunted by disappointment.
I listened to you with skepticism. I watched you with doubt. I did not believe. I would not hope. I waited for a Republican to emerge as the one I could throw my lot in with and cast a vote. But with each speech, each interview, each debate, you wore me down. You fought an uphill battle with me, Senator. I am the cynic you address in your speeches. And yet I, the hardnosed, pessimistic, conservative daughter of a career military father, found myself daring to believe in you. Despite all odds, you have won my admiration and my respect. You have restored my faith and given me reason to hope. I have not, again, donned the rose colored lenses, but neither do I gaze through a glass darkly. I can see, perhaps for the first time, clearly.
My husband and I are the greatest example of what you argue for, of what you aspire to achieve on the political landscape. We are "purple." My husband is a Baptist and although raised by a Catholic and a Protestant, I am a Buddhist. He likes the Beatles and I like Elvis. He loves a good Lager whereas I prefer a nice Merlot. He calls the East coast his home and I came to Maryland only a few years ago, from the warm shores of California. He is black, whereas I am white. He is a Democrat and I, as I have said, am a Republican. We are "purple" – we are America. People marvel, and even we, sometimes wonder how this unlikely union came to be. It is because we leave the labels at the door. It is because we have more in common, than these labels would have you believe. We live by two simple truths: doing the right thing is the only option, no matter what the consequence and in the end, only kindness matters.
And I found myself asking how we, crowded under one roof, stepping over each other’s toes, sharing every minute of every hour of every day, can find balance, an equilibrium, a working partnership, when the professionals we’ve elected to office to solve the horrific problems facing this great nation, cannot do the same. Surely, professionals, who have the luxury of being able to retreat to neutral corners at the end of the day, should be able to find a way to work together, to partner for the common good, to achieve a higher purpose. Otherwise we are all lost.
You, Senator, have proven that you too live by that first simple truth. But sadly, I cannot vote for you tomorrow, in the Maryland Primary, because it is a closed primary. Because I am still registered as a Republican, I will do, as I have had to do, all of my adult life – I will vote for the lesser of the evils. But after this primary, I will do everything I can to support your campaign.
I majored in Political Science and although I consider myself a political junkie, I have never written a letter to a public official or candidate, until now. I have never donated to a political campaign, until yours – twice. I have never volunteered my time to be a part of the process, until today, at this rally.
I will work tirelessly to help elect you as President of the United States, because if I cannot remedy tomorrow by being able to cast my vote for you in November, it will be the greatest regret of my life.
Yours truly,
An Obamacan