by Jon Price

Created on: November 06, 2008   Last Updated: December 02, 2008

From 2000 to 2008, the United States of America was mired in a dollrums of despair and buffoonery. It's true that over the past few years it's become hip to bash now Lame-Duck President W, but few people spoke intelligently about that. Most people fell to the typical responses, "He's really stupid," or "He probably can't even spell his own name," or "I bet he has a low IQ". The truth is, George W. Bush WAS a terrible president and it was shown so clearly when placed against the standard his successor has displayed. His successor is Barack Hussein Obama and on Tuesday, November 4th 2008, he was elected President of the United States. At around 11:37am on November 4th, 2008, I voted for him - and here's why.

1. Inspiration - Who else could pull nearly 1,000,000 into a public park while John McCain and his 5,000 or so supporters hung out a swanky hotel on Election Night.

2. Integrity - Sure he made a few missteps on the campaign trail, but he's remained true to one idea - Change. We need a fresh start.

3. He's real - Ok, I know he makes a ton of money and my lower-middle class demeanor tells me that the more money you make the less real you become, but he seems different. I'd totally smoke a cigarette with him or try to defend him on the low post (that last one is a basketball term).

4. Hope - Now that an African American has been elected the 44th President of the United States the door is open for all minorities from all income levels. He proved the "american dream" is real.

5. Sarah Palin - Wow, she is awful. And terrifying. And probably a zombie. (Note: I cannot prove one of those statements.)

6. Economy - Reading the Financial Times enorsement of Obama proved a lot to me - all the Republicans' talk about how Obama can't fix the economy is completely false. If a highly respected finanical paper believes in Obama, then that's good enough for me.

7. Eloquence - It may not seem important to some people, but I feel having an eloquent orator as a President is EXTREMELY important. For too long we've had somone that can barely string a full sentence together giving our State of the Union and I'm tired of it. I want some big words in a speech for once that aren't made up!

8. World View - America became the laughing stock of the world around 1998 when Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about his affair with Monica Lewisnky and has continued through the Bush presidency. Now people respect us for making a choice that is progressive and intelligent.

9. Future - Now it's easy to believe in a future that includes equality, prosperity and hope.

10. Change - We still have a long way to go, but Barack Obama has put us on the right path. I voted for him because I believe he will change how things are currently operating and he will pull us up from the sinking dolldrums.

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