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Ferociouskitty
Regular Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 27
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 15, 2008 - 11:34 pm: | 
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This was penned by a friend/neighbor of mine:
An Open Letter to SuperDelegates (especially the Pennsylvanians):
I am the Vice-President of XXX XXX Council. XXX is a XXX suburb of Pittsburgh, PA that's about 1 square mile, and contains some 3,300 people. We are a neighborhood of tree-lined streets where the maples are as tall and proud as the Victorian houses, a neighborhood where William Howard Taft stopped his train during his campaign tour, a neighborhood where people watch out for each others' kids. We have a small-town feel, only three freeway exits from the heart of Downtown Pittsburgh. I love my community.
I got involved in public service, knocking on voters' doors while 7 months pregnant, because I was asked by someone in my neighborhood to run. I agreed because I decided I couldn't in good conscience say no, while simultaneously looking my kids in the face and trying to teach them that community service is important. One of the biggest challenges I've had in the 4 years I've served, is the lack of volunteerism in the community and high expectations without the willingness of people to THEMSELVES roll up their sleeves and say, "Yes, I can."
The WWII generation is dying off, the hippies are retiring, and...there is a frightening lack of people stepping up to take their places, in neighborhood cleanups and plantings; working at the polls; coaching little league; reading to children at the local library. Nobody, but nobody in this presidential race but Barack Obama has the ability to raise millions of people up out of their self-absorption and apathy, to remind us that hope and connection are important, and without them, our country really is in serious trouble.
I ask the SuperDelegates to watch the crowds cheering for Hillary Clinton at her rallies, then to watch the BIGGER crowds -- thousands standing on the sidewalks outside in subzero weather -- with tears streaming down their faces, each time Mr. Obama speaks to our collective need, our collective disillusionment.
Hillary Clinton may indeed have more experience, but, she is also too wrapped up in the beltway culture of back-room dealings...she owes too many people...and because her husband was once president (something my Republican friends NEVER let up about, since their favorite pastime even before this election has always been Hating on Bill...), she comes to the Hill with too much baggage to be anything but divisive. Hillary Clinton may have good ideas about some things, but...plans are not going to be enough this time.
Over the last 8 years, America has lost its heart and sold its soul. There are times you need to make decisions with your head, other times the right decision belongs to the heart. It's time we listened to our hearts. That's the *only* way we're going to get things moving the right way again...by stopping the apathy, by bringing back things like hope and joy, by involving the uninvolved, reaching out to the disenfranchised. An added bonus, Barack Obama even has a track record of reaching across the aisle to people of opposing parties, in the name of important work...what makes anyone think this would stop if he reaches the White House?
There is a record number of new Democrats flooding polls all over America, specifically to vote for Barack Obama. Each of these voters took a leap of faith...a leap of faith saying that they're suspending disbelief for long enough to see if their voices, their opinions, really do count. If SuperDelegates override the popular vote in this case, they risk VALIDATING the apathy and disillusionment of those voters by a record number. We will have missed the best opportunity we've had in years, to fire people up, and to involve them. We will have failed those people who took that leap of faith. We will have confirmed, to millions of people, that their votes really don't matter at all. And that wouldn't just be a blow to the party, but a dangerous and tragic affront to the democratic process that's been in place for over 200 years.
I have to confess that such a situation, should it happen, might be the last straw for me as a Democrat, and I'm someone who is entering my 5th year of unpaid public service as an elected Democrat. I have a 12-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old autistic son, a toddler, and a husband who works out of town 5 days per week...it is not always easy or convenient for me to devote 10 to 12 hours a week for Council business. You risk not only turning off all the new recruits, but turning off those like me in our 30's and 40's who HAVE made it a priority to take up the mantle and fight the good fight for no other reason that SOMEONE HAS TO...my generation which is two to four more presidential elections away from being the ones in charge.
And, in case you need permission from a woman to vote for Obama...I am NOT willing to vote for Hillary Clinton based on the fact that she and I are both female. A female President would be nice, but...for most of us, it depends on the woman...and MANY of us just ain't feelin' it, with Hillary. Women already HAVE made significant gains in leadership. (In my neighborhood alone, we have: a female magistrate, a female mayor, a female police sergeant, a female council president and council vice-president.) PLEASE don't let that be your reason!!!
I ask you, for my community, for my children; for my broke school district which is failing in performance standards and therefore only teaches to achievement tests because of No Child Left Behind, and is now failing to prepare a generation of children with critical thinking and independent study skills; for my local Port Authority whose funding dried up because of the Iraq war; for my local police department who can't generate a decent list of applicants because the best-trained public safety workers have been sent overseas; for the poor, mostly black neighborhoods around mine who are even less equipped then we to deal with doubled employee healthcare costs over 2 years, 172% higher garbage collection costs over 3 years, millions in sewer repair fees to honor regional DEP consent orders...for ALL of these people and entities, I humbly ask that you evaluate your vote thoughtfully, carefully, and with the future in mind.
Please cast it not thinking about yourself and your own motivations, but about millions of voters who already spoke, and about the nearly unfathomable number of Americans (most, probably, with incomes a lot lower than yours) who will have to live with the consequences of your decision. Please cast it thinking about which primary candidate truly has the best chance of beating John McCain in a general contest for President of the United States in 2008.
PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA.
Sincerely,
XX |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 6308
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 11:21 am: |
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It has become bigger than just Barak Obama. It is bigger than all of us.
This is no less than the heart and soul of America on trial. |
Nels
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Nels
Post Number: 1052
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008 - 08:45 pm: |
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"It is bigger than all of us."
You can say that again. |
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