My husband is an attorney and I am an urban planner for an inner ring suburb of Detroit. We have two daughters, aged 3 years and 6 months. We have strained friendships and family relationships over this election, but to me it is worth it. Sacrifices for the greater good, I feel. I felt that if I didn’t, for once in my life, take a stand for something I felt so strongly about, that I wouldn’t be able to look my daughters in the eye again.

Great project– don’t even get me started on the “other” Sarah. My happiness over Obama winning was twofold– it also meant that she lost.

I am a wife, a mother of two daughters (6mos. and 3 yrs), a welder and a member of the stagehand’s union IATSE Local 16.  I am voting for Barack Obama for president because I believe that our country is not strong without a large healthy working class.  I don’t believe that trickle-down economics work in the best interest of the middle class and I believe Barack Obama when he says that he will put the interests of the middle class above those of large corporations and special interests.  For many reasons and because he has spent time as a community organizer I believe that Obama understands and will fight for my rights as a worker in this country.

I am tired of being told that I should be afraid of the world that we live in.  When I listen to the McCain/Palin ticket I hear the promise of a continuation of the politics of fear that have ruled this country for the last seven years.  Barack Obamas speeches and policies help me to see a positive future for this country, to spite the economic crisis.   Once again we can become known throughout the world as leaders of innovation, conservation, and social justice.  Obamas plans to put people to work inventing new energy technology will make us pioneers of innovation.  His plans to retool auto plants to build cars with cleaner emmissions will allow us to live richly without consuming more than our share of the planets resources.  I believe that his foreign policy will be to lead by example, not to punish with brute force.  This may all sound a little optimistic, but Obama makes me optimistic for this country and that doesn’t come easy to a member of generation X.

I know that it’s time for a change.  It’s time for our government to stop sitting back and watching the environment crumble.  It’s time to relieve poor and middle class people of their tax responsibilities, and require wealthy people to give more back.  Our money needs to go towards social services for women and children, not towards weapons.  It’s time to take care of each other by making education and health care accessible to all.  It’s time for a president who will treat our citizens, and the rest of the world’s children, with respect.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide the right kind of care for me and my students.  McCain and Palin promise environmental damage, tax relief for the wealthy, more war, less choices for women, more educational inequity, and less respect for foreign sovereignty.  Our planet depends on our choice, and that needs to be Obama/Biden.

I have two daughters who I want to raise in a country that is pro-choice, celebrates diversity, and is respected in the world.

After 9-11 I saw the Bush administration dismantle our Bill of Rights.
After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I saw New Orleans where my daughters were born destroyed by a government mismanaged man-made disaster
I have seen greed, lack of accountability, and callousness to others prevail.

I can not take any more, for my future and the young women I have raised.

I support Barak Obama because of his stands on:
-Health Care
-The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
-The economy
-Change and accountability

And I can see the future from MY front yard

I want to wake up every morning in a country of peace and equality. Not in a country which continues to kill and die in a war for a reason which has been disproved, but in a country of equal rights and opportunities for people of every race, gender, religion, and social class. I believe the only way this CAN and WILL happens by electing Obama for president.

I am voting for Obama/Biden for reasons too numerous to list, but they all boil down to one wish.  That my 3 month old son grow up in the best country in the world - one that TRIES to encourage everyone to live to their full potential.  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?!  Why is it even questionable, in this day and age, that all people deserve equal accesss to health care, education, fair housing and basic food.  A country that isn’t even trying to provide these things is not a Democracy.  A Democracy is governed for the people, by the people.  Yes, we should pay taxes so that we can all have health care.  The whole sociey benefits when all are as health as possible and don’t need to worry about losing their house in order to keep a loved one alive.  The most democratic and partriotic thing I do everyday is pay my taxes!  Some might call that socialism.  I call it social justice, insurance, paying it forward, love, Democracy.  Whenever I hear someone complaining about taxes in general, I say, “Fine, then go ahead and lug your bucket of tar down to the curb and repave the section of street in front of your house every few years.  And don’t complain about the pothole in front of your neighbors house, they bought a big screen TV, they don’t mind the bumps.”  For the life of me I don’t understand why the health of our nation ranks lower on the ladder than street paving.  Is it because your neighbor without health insurance losing thier house or their life bothers you less, physically, than hitting that pot hole?

I support Barack Obama for a variety of reasons, but one in particular is very important to me. When I was 18, I dedicated a year of my life to national service with Americorps*NCCC. Whether it was building with Habitat For Humanity or tutoring and mentoring at risk children, I walked away from that experience knowing that I’d made measurable, tangible improvements in the lives of my fellow citizens.  Barack Obama and Joe Biden have pledged to expand Americorps, a program that has suffered huge budget cuts under the current administration, from 75,000 corpsmembers to 250,000 corpsmembers. Americorps*NCCC creates a truly win-win situation as the corpsmembers acquire skills and character that make them terrific assests in the workplace- as well as igniting a lifelong passion for service. Below I’ve attatched the Americorps pledge, and I think most will find it very appropriate for Obama’s message in this campaign!
I will get things done for America
to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me
this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member . . .
and I am going to get things done.