Election 2012

Tomorrow, the US decides what we want to look like for the next four years.  What we want to aspire to, where we want to fit in the world.

I want us to be a country that is improving, that looks at the rights we have been granted and says, we want more.  I want a country that strives for equality for all, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation.  I want a country that realizes that I am the same as any other, regardless of what holds me back.  I want a country where being born in the "ghetto" is not a death sentence or a sentence of hard labor for little reward.  I want a country where a child born to the poorest woman and a child born to the richest woman have the same opportunities.

I want a country where my friends and family can marry any one they like, whether they be black, white, gay, straight, or anything else.  I want a country that realizes that sexual orientation has little to do with anything, but where denying people rights based on sexual orientation is bigotry and discrimination.

I want a country where all citizens 18 and older can vote, regardless of whether they can afford to drive.

I want a country where women can plan their families, where women have access to safe and legal abortions.

I want a country where people receive medical care, regardless of their job.  I want a country where health insurance is no longer a barrier or a privilege but a right.  After all, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, don't we?

I do not want a country where we turn away from the world community, where we strive to make all those who are our enemies hate us.

I do not want a country where taxpayers are strapped for cash, because the states have to ask more from their citizens.

I do not want a country where religious freedom means that someone else's is more important than mine.

I do not want a country where war is normal.  I want a country where war is never on the table.

The choice is clear.  The time is now.  We, the youth of America, must take hold.  We must stand strong for our beliefs.  We must vote.  We must lift our country to the best it can be.

Vote for Barack Obama.  We need a president that loves America and knows how to negotiate.  We need a president that believes that women's rights are human rights and that gay rights are civil rights.