i had to think it over first

before i could really respond to the last round of debates. i left the debate (a big group of us met up at ivy tech to watch the debate and make calls during commercials and it was wonderful) feeling that barack had won. no question. hillary had to admit she was a liar on national television, barack stood strong in the face of questions he's going to have to answer at some point (b/c it's not like that douchebag sean hannity is ever going to stop whining about anything), and he was very adamant about defending himself, the movement he leads, and all of us who support him. i felt good about that because he stood strong in the face of an all out attack by abc.

but i'm also glad abc did what it did (niall stanage sums it up quite nicely over at the guardian, http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/niall_stanage/2008/04/the_dumbest_debate_in_america.html). abc and gibsonopolis (thank you, mr. colbert), in particular, did us all a favor by showing us exactly who is responsible for the mud slinging that's going on right now. that's it's the main stream media (msm) who perpetuates all the nonsense that keeps their ratings up and our focus off the things that matter. i mean, really, if we are all focused on tearing each other down over things like casual acquaintances, words taken out of context and mangled to destroy one's character, religion, guns, and everything else that divides us, we will keep voting for the candidates all the rich, white guys want in the white house. so they can keep exploiting us, squeezing the life from the middle class, forging imperialistic marches into oil-rich countries around the world, just to deepen the pockets of their greedy white friends.

so readers and fellow americans out there, let's just step back and say thank you to abc. you have finally shown the last man, woman, and child in doubt that it's you and your evil empire that fight to keep regular folks like us down in the trenches so that you can make more money. and a shout out to all you regular folks, like me, who are desperate for change, for a better country and a better world. let's all promise that we're going to stand up against those who fight to keep us down and get barack obama elected president.

i'm in indiana, fighting a battle on grounds of undecided voters. this is where the election can and will end. come join me, come join us. we've got the greatest group of grassroots folks on the ground with us and are armed for battle every day of the week. if we had a few more soldiers, we could cover more ground, and reach a few more of those undecideds who aren't really undecided, but need to know it's okay to vote for the young and inexperienced guy who talks about hope and believing in ourselves and tells us that we are the change we've been waiting for. these people want to talk, they want to hear why you're supporting barack obama, they want to know it's okay to vote for him. and all we need is a little more of you.

cross posted at daily kos

how great the rewards can be

wow, camp clinton's political machine is sure showing its true colors, confirming its predictability, and proving that it's just too run down and out of touch to really give america what we want and need. and i can't help but wonder if some strategic someone or other, who has historical insight into politicians generally and the clintons more specifically, hasn't helped team obama give senator clinton just enough rope to hang herself while sitting back and watching as she hops into the noose.

the most daming thing to clinton is that we like barack. he's a good guy, a decent and genuine man who has taken the road less traveled in spite of the many adversities he's had to overcome. and he means what he says. i mean, in last night's debate, hillary admitted to the camera that she's a liar and acted as though it were no big deal (as though her husband's dishonesty didn't cost america years of better-spent time tangled up in perjury, lewinsky, and impeachment). with each passing day, her hypocrisy is brought into brighter light, and the sight of her foolishness is beginning to outweigh my urgency to seat a democrat in the white house.

she talks about change, in response to his movement for change. she says she wants things to change too, but then resorts to the very behavior senator obama rebukes as the old style politics that keep us from moving our country forward. but i get it. it's the only way she can win and because winning seems to mean more to hillary clinton than the will of america, she fights on and does so with the same viciousness she criticized back when she was on its receiving end. and i have no doubt it is going to backfire for her, because i have to believe that the american people are smarter than that, and i have to believe that americans are so fed up with the bullcrap in d.c. (and the frat-boy busy administration in particular), that we will see through all the mud being slung to find a bit of hope in the junior senator from illinois who inspires us to believe that yes we can!

and who knows. maybe in the end we will discover that no we couldn't. and maybe we won't. and maybe he won't be able to deliver the promises he is trying to make. but wouldn't you rather take a chance on the new guy who talks about hope, and leads americans to believe that we possess the power within ourselves to make our country great again? wouldn't it be better to give barack obama a chance than to elect someone we already know will disappoint us like all the other politicians before them? isn't it about time to try something new and someone new? someone i adore above all others once said to me, something along the lines of, "no risk, no reward" and i for one am taking the risk.

evansville heating up

oh goodness, i'm feeling the pressures of campaign life for the first time since i began this journey. i haven't slept in a week, the little ole township i've been assigned has 3,000 doors to knock and 10,000 phone calls to make in the next ten days (before we move into getting out the vote), and there aren't near enough of us (YET!) to make it happen. that being said, i'm recruiting like a mad woman to make sure we can get enough people in the door to hit the pavement and get on the horn. and with michelle coming into town this week for a town hall, the madness is astounding...

and on top of that, obama has found himself in the midst of a pickle fest. or maybe even strategized himself into a pickle revolving around religion - an issue that has been the downfall of the democratic party for the past couple of elections...

look, the GOP managed to win the last presidential election on the issue of gay marriage. people tell me that's an oversimplistic explanation for a presidential election mired in war, a dumb president, and a stiff and unrelatable john kerry. but when george bush can win a second term when more than half the country is fed up with his idiocy and not liking the direction of a war (a WAR!), there is clearly something else going on. gay marriage. the GOP is awesome when it comes to pointing out the failures of my own party and in manipulating their base into voting on issues that don't matter. but the thing that does matter that the dems are great at ignoring (for a lot of reasons that i believe revolve mostly around insecurity and fear in alienating an entire group of voters) is religion.

so the dems don't touch the issue. we skirt around it, talk about growing up going to church, pander to the religious leaders as well as we can, and then sit back and ignore the fact that our indifference to religion is what alienates church-going might-be democratic voters.

i'm no different. i'm not religious. i'm certainly spiritual and believe in something greater than me and i think i'm a good person who strives to treat others as i wish to be treated (sometimes i fail, but i am always trying). my biggest issue with organized religion is (and for a very long time has been) that i have found religious people to be some of the most intolerant people i have ever met. i think jesus christ, muhammed, moses, zoroaster, buddha, krishna were incredible leaders whose kindness, warmth, spiritual connection to the universe, and lessons remain inspirational to this day. i also believe that if people of all religions worked as hard to live their lives in the footsteps of their prophets (instead of competing with one another and cutting each other down), this world would be a place without war, poverty, hatred, genocide, orphans, segregation, and all the other things that bring each of us a great deal of strife in our daily lives and the lives of those we love, as well as those we don't even know all around the world. it is the hypocrisy of preaching tolerance while treating those who are different with intolerance that drives me from religion.

that being said, i am aware that religion is the foundation of our great country. i am aware that most people in this country are religious, and i am gaining a new respect and will even go so far as to express admiration for the familial connections within the religious community. even more than that, i appreciate that my party needs to embrace the religious community in this country. we all need to work together AS ONE if we are truly to make the changes in america that we need to make. the religious community is already organized and working toward the betterment of the world in its local, national, and international efforts to end poverty, extend healthcare, and improve the lives of people living in developing countries around the world. our party and, quite frankly, the whole world needs to embrace the good work done by people of faith all around the country and the world. i mean, really, we all have the same ultimate goals, don't we? we all want to live in a better, more inspired, more progressive world, right?

and maybe, just maybe, obama's latest "blunder" was actually a great move because it's really opening up a dialogue about religion, about how the dems have historically failed the religious, how faith helps us all make the world a better place, and ultimately, about how the clinton camp really is all about down and dirty same old politics. further, last night's compassion forum provided some real insight into where each of them stand when it comes to religion, faith, and tolerance. from where i sat, it seemed to me that one of the candidates spoke from their heart and responded to the questions asked while the other candidate politicked their way through the questions without ever really responding. it was a really great way to see which is a person and which is a politician. i know which i prefer...