This One Thing

Today America votes. I don't, obviously. However, I've been thinking about the campaign as a whole, reading Margaret & Helen for its wonderful insights (the very simple post on Obama's grandmother made me sob a bit this morning), and just trying to come up with one reason that should persuade people to vote for Obama.

One reason, two words: Record Turnouts.

The Obama campaign has been all about mobilizing people to vote, inspiring them, often for the first time, to get their behinds down to the polling station and take an active part in democracy. The Republicans have been trying to scare people - scare Jews into thinking Obama will bring about a second Holocaust; scare taxpayers that he's a Marxist, terrorist thug who will still all their money and give it to black people, scare anti-choice nutters that Obama will bring about abortions for all because of women's "health"; and suing anything that moves to suppress the vote (with the Sixth Circuit ignoring Supreme Court precedent directly on point to allow them to sue).

The lines in Georgia (eight hours!) remind me of the lines in South Africa when black South Africans could vote for the first time; the Spanish elections in 2004, when vastly increased numbers turned out to stick it to Aznar for lying to them about ETA's involvement in the Madrid Atocha bombings for political gain. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck to think that people are really passionately involved and motivated to get out and vote.

McCain and the Republicans' tactics of voter suppression under the guise of voter fraud is the exact opposite of what should make you excited. That invokes black voter suppression of the Civil Rights Era (good old Chief Justice Rehnquist, eh?); when black voters were burned alive in a town hall for exercising their rights. Dramatic, yes, but it's on the same continuum of white voters wanting to ensure that black votes don't count. That's not the way any person should want to win the Presidency. And that's why I think you should vote for Obama.

Now, can we PLEASE get back to more important things, like whether or not Carlisle are going to get relegated to League Two this season.

Thanks.

Missionary

I have discovered my mission for the next ten months or so: Convince so-called liberals that John McCain is really, really, REALLY not going to be a good candidate. I'm mildly (to say the least) obsessed with it.

Reality Check's podcast this week pointed out that with all the kerfuffle over Barack Obama's pastor, maybe we could direct a little attention towards the man that John McCain calls a "spiritual adviser," one Ron Parsley. Ron Parsley is another dreadful human being trying to claim that Planned Parenthood is committing a genocide against black women (death toll = 1500 per day, apparently), compares Planned Parenthood to the KKK (no - really), wants to destroy Islam and anything that progressives cherish.

People are starting to point out the hypocrisy of the media for not touching him yet attacking Jeremiah Wright - like this on his "free pass" - but it's not enough. It needs to be in the mainstream. And, more importantly, it needs to go out to self-proclaimed moderates and liberals - these are not even moderate positions. Yet nothing, nothing, nothing is said except in the liberal media. So, self-importantly, tell your friends and make sure it's not just a few of us who can't vote that realise this. PLEASE!