To understand the title, you must understand who I am and my background. I was born in a very small town in South Carolina. I have lived here pretty much my entire life with the exception of my college and graduate school years. You don't see Obama signs in my town. You also didn't see Kerry signs, Gore Signs, or Clinton signs. When you run for local office you run as a Republican. If you want to run against an incumbent you sign up as an independent. I am currently an attorney for an insurance defense firm. I do everything on the defense side, including defend bad faith cases against some of the largest insurance companies in the world.
You might have some grasp now that I have been a Republican all my life. I have supported the party of small government, the party of tax cuts and the party of Reagan. I advocated going to war in Iraq, giving tax cuts to everyone and defended the Patriot Act. I voted for W. twice and have always pulled the lever as a straight ticket Republican. Hell, the only reason I know about the Daily Kos is that I heard Bill O'Reilly talk about it on so many occassions.
I want everyone to pay attention to the next sentence. I am voting for Barack Obama. I have given the last 15 years of my life to the conservative cause. I have dedicated my time and money to the Republicans. What have I gotten in return? Well, let's count it down:
- I got my 401(k) statement that said I have lost 40% of my retirement fund in less than 60 days.
- I got to foot the bill for a war that obviously served no useful purpose and has cost the lives of thousands of brave soldiers.
- I got to pay $4 a gallon gasoline.
- I get to raise my young children through the Second Great Depression.
- I got to watch my biggest investment (my house) stagnate or fall in value and make it impossible to sell.
- I got to watch Congress pay $700 billion to give corporate CEO's an entire new way to "game the system". And finally...
- I get to worry about how to spend to meet my daily needs rather than save to meet my future goals.
I am done. It is time for a change, it is Time For a Change, it is TIME FOR A CHANGE! I do not care if John McCain all the sudden becomes Warren Buffet, I do not care if Sarah Palin develops the mental abilities of a 15 year old, all I care about is getting my country back on the right track. Folks, I don't know you. I probably have very little in common with you. But in November we will have one thing in common. We will bring change to the country and we will make sure Barack Obama is the next President of the United States.