Hope Over Fear

Out here in the woods, politics is strictly local. You rarely see campaign signs for anything other than town-related candidates and issues. Perhaps it's the yankee penchant for privacy that dampens the urge to publicize one's personal beliefs, be they philosophical, religious or political. I have no idea whom my neighbors want to see elected the next president of the United States. Honestly, I don't want to know.

My vote's going to Barack Obama for a number of reasons. I want to live in a hopeful America not a fearful one, an America that's stronger than it's been in recent times. We've squandered so much under Bush's reign, and we'll have to continue paying for these mistakes. His narrow black-and-white views have crippled us. We're a lot less free than we were, in so many ways. It's time to turn the page on this sad era. I believe we can do better.

I have personal reasons to vote for Obama. My family's standard of living has steadily eroded during the Bush years. It was nice paying lower capital gains taxes (once), and I appreciated the rebate checks (last one went straight into my furnace), but what with salary stagnation and soaring health insurance premiums, we certainly haven't been living the vida loca. More like the vida poca. I can only dream about affordable health care coverage, coverage that doesn't cost some $8,000 in yearly premiums alone. If my husband were to lose his job, we not only couldn't afford an individual policy, my pre-existing conditions would surely exclude us from coverage. That's freedom for yah! More like Medicaid.

It's time for change. We need an infusion of fresh ideas, maybe even some new mantras. The old ones are so tired.

This Independent is voting for Barack Obama.