Only Mark: So I finally decided...

For some reason, someone somewhere thought that it would be a good idea to give us lowly South Carolinians great deal of sway in who our presidential nominees will be. I know, crazy right? Oh well, as a Democrat in this deeply red state, I certainly do appreciate the voice, since, other than the most local of elections (I live in a Democratic city and county, thank God!) a Dem's vote doesn't really count for much around here. We just cast our votes out of formality, but still expect to lose every election by 10 points or more. Not this time...we actually count, suckas! (Sadly the same cannot be said for my poor parents back home in FL. Yeah...Florida got stripped of it's voting privileges at the Democratic National Convention. That'll teach them to try to upstage SC! haha)

Anyway, I'm kinda a closeted political junkie...especially on more local issues, since my vote doesn't normally count on national ones...so I've been watching what's been going on for the last year just sorta taking it all in. As of last week, I still was torn between Clinton & Obama for who'd get my vote. (Sorry Edwards, I like ya, but the you're not getting the nomination and I'm not wasting my one chance at having a vote count. Be nice to people and maybe you'll stand a shot at VP.) I was back and forth and back and forth and generally remained non-committal. Since our primary is this Saturday, I finally decided that last week I needed to sit myself down and make a decision. Here's what I came up with...

Yep, that's my car. (My mom commented..."You put a sticker on your car?" knowing how anal retentive I am...I reassured her it was only on the window for easy removal.) And yes, I decided to go with Barack, that Muslim, anti-Pledge of Allegiance radical...(haha! Just kidding. I just read this post and it made me laugh. If anyone still believes stupid e-mails like this floating around then I guess they're just morons...or grossly under-informed.)

So I know what you're all asking..."Why Obama, Mark? Does it have anything to do with Oprah coming to stump for him in SC? Because you know if Oprah says it, then it must be right!" haha, actually more of you are probably saying "What took you so long, I was behind him looong ago!" Anyway, I sat myself down, went on their respective websites and decided that in all honesty, I noticed and expect very little policy difference between the two camps. They're both promising health care, ending the war, and (now) Change! I'd expect little else out of them, as those are some of the primary reasons I am a Democrat. So then I had to go to the next level and look at the people themselves. I think we all agree that's the area where Barack really shines.

Basically, it came down to this for me...Hilary Clinton, while she is very driven and dedicated and probably has a bigger set of balls than anyone else running, is far too polarizing of a figure right now. Primarily, even if she got the party's nomination, I really think most of the Republicans would vote for anyone else but her, so there'd be very little crossover vote. Secondly, if she were by some divine occurrence to get elected as President, her polarity would not help much with Congress. They'd still be bickering and fighting and get no where just the way they are now. Don't get me wrong, I still expect Republicans to act outraged and try to play hardball for any Democratic president (as I would expect from the Dems in the opposite situation), but I expect that Barack is better able to overcome that showmanship to actually get policy passed. He also would be able to play better on the global spectrum to improve our standing with other countries. I think what America needs more than anything right now is to be hopeful and trusting of our government once again, and that's something I think Barack brings to the table. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton is one of those people that you either love or hate...and too many people fall in the latter category.

With that decision being made...I went out and got the bumper sticker above (they were out of yard signs) and registered to attend a rally Sen. Obama was having downtown on Sunday. I'll post a couple pictures below, but my digital camera is not of the highest quality, so it's tough to see. This was the first actual political rally I've been able to attend this go-round and, therefore, the first time I got to hear Barack in person. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Most of the time he was speaking, he actually seemed to be sorta tripping over his words and a little unsure of what he was saying. Granted, I didn't see any notes or prepared speeches on his podium, so I applaud him for speaking off the cuff, but it wasn't like the polished sound bites I was used to hearing. I'm also sure that part of it had is due to the fact that he's been on the road for a year speaking about 700 times! haha I imagine he's a bit exhausted! He definitely has perfected his general inspiration closing portion about "Hope" etc., I guess he's said that one a time or two before. lol Otherwise, it was the general last minute rah-rah kind of rally you'd expect the week before the election. Glad I went...saw my boss there too, haha. Anyway...here are some pics!