Oh, Obama!

So yesterday marked a new beginning for the United States of America.

Now begins the presidential reign of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

This election was the first one that actually meant something to me, to be honest. Even though politics mostly stress me out and I do not consider them 'fun' in any way, I am really excited to have been able to witness such an event as this year's Presidential Election. This one is bound to stand out in the history books.

I still harbor the same attitude towards the whole shenanigan, however. I had an extremely hard time deciding who to vote for, and in the end, no matter which way I voted, I was bound to get crap from people I am close to. Like I have explained before, most of my family and many of my close friends are quite conservative and republican, and most of my coworkers and lots of friends are extremely liberal and full-on democrats. I had more than my fill of discussions and arguments with both sides about many different subjects. I read more than I cared to read about the different candidates. I had a very difficult time filtering through everything I was hearing, reading, and seeing and choosing which information I wanted to base my decision on.

Now that it is all said and done, I don't feel much better about things. I feel like everyone around me is one extreme or the other. Every supporter of the democratic party has been absolutely ecstatic, and every republican mopes around as if the end of the world is coming. I remain indifferent. Even though the Presidential democratic party did receive my vote, I am not convinced. I am excited for change, but it is an excitement that is powered both by fear and hope. Actions speak louder than words, always. So, Mr. President, here is your opportunity. Earn back the faith and patriotism of the Americans by showing us that you were the right choice.

During the last Presidential campaign, I was attending college in Skagit County, and there were a few students that were running around trying to influence people to vote, but it was nothing like what I witnessed this year. Upon my return to the USA from Sweden, my friends, coworkers, WWU and WCC students, and even strangers I would pass on the streets were, not only suggesting, but forcefully pushing people verbally to vote, vote, VOTE! Thank you to those people that passionately pushed the young folks of Bellingham to care about their country's government. I am thoroughly impressed.

There is power in number, as life has proven repeatedly. I have heard a few of my disappointed conservative friends complain about how the citizens' vote doesn't really count for anything since the Electoral College performs the formal vote. But I am going to go out on a little limb here and say they're wrong. I feel like the number of voting citizens sends more of a message than we think it does. Power is a potentially scary thing and history has shown us over and over what happens when power falls into the hands of the wrong people. If we, the people, do not care to vote or concern ourselves with the leadership in this country, we are basically forking over the power that was bestowed upon us by our Founding Fathers and letting the government know that they could probably get away with tossing us around how they see fit and they will not get much of a resistance because there are not enough people that care enough to put up a fight. (How's that for a run-on sentence??) Even though we are not the final say on who moves into the White House, we are still getting the word out there that we care a lot who inhabits the place by getting our votes in. We are the influence.

It blows my mind that the majority of the world right now is stoked on this year's election. It makes me grateful to live in such an influential country and hopeful that it's universal fame will be used to initiate changes for the good worldwide.

Go America!