I first started this diary with the idea that I would write some deep, personal piece that would be very profound from a foreigner's point of view. In trying to do so, I found that it wasn't really fitting with who I am, and what I'm feeling about this election coming up. So I scrapped it and wrote this. Frankly, it's pretty hard to really put into words, but I tried.
Like just about everyone that's going to read this, the last seven years have scared the crap out of me. It's to such a point that when I call my brother who lives on the opposite coast, I wonder if we're being listened to simply because we're not American. I know that's totally paranoid, but I doubt I'm alone in this. And to watch this country lose such standing with the rest of the world, especially one that's largely considered the last super power...wow. It's almost unfathomable.
It seems cliché, but America truly is at a crossroads. On one hand you have a self-proclaimed 'maverick' who's anything but. I thought Bush scared me, but John McCain appears to be a disaster waiting to happen. Even though I feel like the current Iraq war is W settling the score for his dad, it seems McCain has a grudge under every rock and it would only be a matter of time before he overreacts. On the other, you have Barack Obama, the epitome of the American dream. His vision of what America was and can be again has remained intact despite everything he and this country have endured. From that standpoint alone, the choice is obvious.
Look, I can't vote. I can't donate money. I have donated my time and my strength, however. I feel that these are such extraordinary times that everyone should do what they can. If at the very least all you can do is vote then please, for the sake of all of us, vote for Obama. Don't leave it to your fellow Americans just because your state is 'safe' one way or another. Why take that chance?