get off the damn couch you potheads and go out and vote

Here we are, 2 months until the 2008 election.

And I am scared. I am scared that we are going to lose again. I have wracked my brain on what I can do. i can’t donate money because of the debt I have, the lack of money I am making, the high rent I have to pay, the high electricity bill I have to pay, I cannot work for the campaign because I need what little money I can make. I briefly thought of joining the grassroots campaign, but unfortunately my pile of debt made that impossible because of the unreliability of income. I can watch tv. I can listen to the radio. I can soak up as much information as I possibly can so that I can successfully debate any republican that comes my way. I can have information at my fingertips. I can put quotes on my facebook page to hopefully open the eyes of those people I am friends with. I can get people to register to vote who have never voted before. I can convince people who have never voted before to go out and vote. I can inform those people who don’t do the research themselves and help them become mad, become passionate, become involved. So here I am, 2 months until the general election, trying to do my part. Spreading the word. Through humor, through anger, through fear, through words, through shock, through truth.

2000 was the first presidential election I could vote in. I had always had an interest in politics, in 1999 my brother and I attended an event in Worcester MA with Senators Kennedy and Kerry, Congressman McGovern and President Clinton. We had seats not too far from the stage, and it was enthralling. My dad had gotten the tickets from Jim McGovern for us. I was barely the voting age, my brother was in college. We cheered, I cried, we laughed. It was a feeling I will never forget. In 2000, a few weeks before the election, I skipped class and went to a Gore rally in Boston. Senator Kennedy was there, and both Gore and Lieberman. We had signs, we had flags, we had buttons. The feeling at that rally geared me up for the rest of the election. I proudly displayed our Gore/Lieberman sign in my window (which happened to face the back, but we didn’t care), I proudly wore my button daily. Bush scared us. Little did we know how much more he should have scared us. I went home sometime in October and cast my absentee ballot. My friend Jess did the same in Connecticut. Yes, we were from two states that “didn’t matter” – but when there are countries in this world where people are still dying for the right to vote, when you think of all of the women in this country who fought for the right – it matters. Election night came. It was only a couple of weeks until our fall play opened, so we had rehearsal. We were working on scenes that I was not in, so I was frequently running into the nearby classroom, and checking cnn.com. At one point in the evening they called Florida so i ran into the theatre and yelled "WE HAVE FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!" later on, i was onstage rehearsing, and i heard someone whisper "they took Florida back" we were heart broken. We raced back to our dorm. I couldn't watch the coverage in my room because my roommate was pro bush and anti Clinton (Hillary, she was running for senate in NY that year, and she was from NY). My friend Jess' room was our campaign headquarters, despite one of her roommates being a republican. Our friend James joined us late in the night. they came back from a commercial break and the headline at the bottom said "Bush projected winner" we were devastated. we cried. when they showed the Republicans cheering and celebrating, we commented on the baby wearing a hood that went up in a point, calling him the "KKK baby" a man who looked strikingly like Fidel, we screamed at. we were heartbroken. it was 3 am and we stayed up for nothing. we had teary good nights, and i headed up to my room, and set out my black outfit for the next day. When i got up, i checked my email and saw that it was tied again. to close to call. but i still wore my black. i think deep down i knew it was over.

four years later, the excitement wasn't as great for me because i was living in London at the time, but i cast my absentee ballot, and stayed up as late as i could. when there was no early morning phone call (much like the one i had received a week earlier when the red sox won the world series) i knew it was over. Londoners asked me "HOW could he be elected AGAIN!?" i didn't know. it wasn't me.

Last year began this journey to the election. the candidates were beginning to emerge. at first i had no idea who i would vote for. i loved all of the democrats. i don't know if it was because of my hatred of the republicans or what. but i wanted to vote for ALL OF THEM. early on, Dennis Kucinich was my man. He stood for everything i stand for, he was funny, and could speak. He dropped out early on, though that didn't stop him from giving this amazing speech last week at the convention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVp9cWOcZ7g
WAKE UP AMERICA!

By the time super Tuesday came around, it was down to Obama and Clinton. Literally until the day before I didn't know who i was going to vote for. But, it came down to me. I am a woman. Here I was, with the opportunity to vote for a woman for President. All day I was giddy. I was going to vote at the school around the block from my apartment on my way home from work. i practically ran to the school, not without being stopped by a Hillary supporter. "don't worry! She's got my vote!" i yelled, probably too excitedly. I think the supporter was wishing crazy women like me wouldn't vote for Hillary. But i did. I was so scared using the machine, i had to get a lesson from the older gentleman manning the poll. I cast my vote, and proudly skipped home. In the end, Hillary didn't win. I stuck my chin out, and immediately became impassioned about Barack. Time to love Barack and loathe McCain. Time to find out as much as I possibly could about both candidates, and their wives.

now, 8 years later after my Gore rally, i am now more involved, more informed, more scared than ever before.

it's the under 30s. they need to get out and vote.

vote for Barack.

vote for the right for a woman to choose - we are not PRO ABORTION we are PRO CHOICE.

vote for health care for all Americans - if you have had it your whole life, maybe you don't get it. but imagine you don't have it and you sprain your ankle. do you have any idea how expensive that would be? people are dying every day because they cannot afford the care that many of us take for granted. no American is better than the next. we are all equal. we all deserve to be able to walk into a hospital and get the best possible care we can, regardless of what kind of care our employer gives us.

vote for equality for gays. i can guarantee, GUARANTEE that if gay men and women have the right to vote, it will have no affect on your life whatsoever. none. i can PROMISE that if gays are allowed to marry, the world will not crumble into the sea. you can live the same life you have been living. get over it and support it.

vote for pulling the troops out of Iraq and concentrating on Afghanistan. we should have been concentrating on Afghanistan this whole time. Iraq has had NOTHING TO DO WITH US.

vote for teachers, artists, the middle class, social services, education, college tuition relief, getting out of a recession, flowers, sunny days, waking up with a smile on your face.

vote for Barck Obama.

and thus begins my election blog.