Conservative Or Closed Minded?

I have always been a centrist. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that when I voted yesterday, it was without trepidation. However, I do not believe either candidate was a horrible choice. I think they are already both excellent leaders. But, as much as I fear change, as much as I am frightened that my choice may bring about a few changes that I do not want, I chose change. I chose to hope that change will be good, not bad or indifferent. And I chose to believe this because, McCain was not really talking about his agenda so much as he was attacking Obama's plans. I chose to believe this because as eloquent as his speech was, Obama never used that eloquence to change his story and see if we would believe him. I chose to believe in hope, because although Obama is a very talented politician, he has not been at it nearly as long as Senator McCain. I chose to believe it because, as my sister pointed out, "there is conservative and there is close minded". I like to consider myself open-minded. I am religious but don't believe that everyone will be happy believing in my God. I am pro-life, but don't think that the choice is always that easy. I am straight, but love my gay friends and respect their "choice" to pursue their own happiness. I had a conversation last night where someone said to me, "if all those black people hadn't come out to vote based on the color of his skin..." I said, "at least they got involved, and they will be much more willing to vote now that they see that it does matter. Look at most of them, they are lower-middle-class or below and are suffering through not only this recession but also have dealt with racism forever. This is their chance." (I know this statement was a generalization and a bit stereotypical but if the person I was talking to was willing to use race, I feel comfortable turning it back on them) The black population equals roughly 17% of our population, if we all voted racially, McCain would have won by a landslide. I'm 100% positive that some white people voted for the exact same reason the other way. Every time I have voted in the past, I have been disappointed with the outcome. Not because my candidate didn't win, because to be honest I am 3 for 4 in picking winners. I actually voted for Bush his first term. I am disappointed because it always seemed to be politics as usual. Nothing changed, the game stayed the same. With Obama I hope that this country can united and work together, which is something we have not seen since the 1940's and WWII. We have had moments of greatness since then, but I am ready for more. I love this country but believe it is becoming more and more divided. We need to centralize, work together and compromise a bit. Nothing is ever as black and white as the extreme right would lead you to believe, but nothing is nearly as easy as the extreme left would try to make it. Hard work and sacrifice built this country. It is the only thing that will save it from the mediocrity that we are heading toward. Not just monetary or physical sacfice, mind you. We need a little bit of idealogical sacrifice from both side. We need to learn how to be united again.

I choose to hope Obama can lead us down the path of change as he has been preaching that he will try. I hope he does work with both sides and that people follow his example. Change is coming. Let us all be flexible enough to change a little, too.