This really feels like the homestretch. After eight years of Republican mismanagement, cronyism, warmongering, fearmongering and hypocrisy, it finally feels like we can elect a democrat (and not just any democrat, but one that happens to be one of the most decent and exciting politicians around).
However, the desperate and vicious GOP reaction of the last couple of weeks has really brought home to me the urgency of making everything in our power to help Barack Obama get elected the next President of the United States.
This is why, today I decided to open my personal fundraising page on MyBarackObama.com and have decided to offer to match the first $200 of donations.
If you feel the same and want to support me on this effort, please donate here!!!
I am probably not your typical kossac, my views are all on the left side of the political spectrum to various degrees, but I suspect I have come to this place through a different path than most of you may have:
- I was born and raised in Mexico, but have lived for the last 10 years in the United States, and I'm now a Permanent Resident (as such, I can donate and volunteer in a political campaign but I can't vote). As a foreign born individual, I have a peculiar perspective of US interventionism and unilateralism. I'm also particularly prone to experiencing cognitive dissonance when I see the US talk the talk but not walk the walk in terms of basic human rights (Guantanamo any one?).
- I'm an evangelical (my maternal granparents were converted in Mexico by Presbyterian missionaries in the first half of last century), so I tend to have conservative personal morals. However, I grew up being a religious minority in Mexico and I, like many evangelicals, have come to cherish the principle of separation of Church and State. I am completely perplexed and somewhat horrified by the American Religious Right.
- I have an MBA, and have been in investment banking for 12 years, which means I tend to have relatively orthodox economic views. However, I've witnessed first hand the damage that crude crony capitalism can inflict. I also remember my outrage at the huge Mexican banking system bailout of the mid 1990s, under which the government to all the debt and got stuck with bad assets, while the shareholders were able to turnaround after just a few years and make a killing selling their banks to foreign players (e.g. Banamex sold to Citibank for US$12 billion).
- I am a member of a racial minority (hispanic), and although I have to say I have very rarely witnessed true racial discrimination first hand, I am particularly sensible to the Xenophobia incited by many on the rigth (I diaried a recent brush with xenophobia here.
- My father has been a lifelong leftist, and was even was a political prisoner in Mexico for around 6 months in the late 60s. While I don't agree with my father all the time (or even most of the time), his worldview has clearly been a strong influence in my life.
Now, maybe the reasons why I yearn for an Obama presidency are not the same as yours, but I am sure that you share my passion for getting Barack Obama elected the next US President.
This really is the homestretch. The GOP is going to go after BO with all they've got. It is up to us to make sure there is not a repeat of 2000 and 2004. My offer to match the first $200 of donations stands. Donate here!!!