Twelve years ago, I remember falling asleep watching election results because the presidential election had not yet been called for either candidate. That was an outcome that would not be known for several more weeks after a Supreme Court ruling. I hope that tonight does not end up the same way. All of that being said, go vote if you have not already. If you're not registered, then poo on you. You don't get to complain about the turn of events tonight.
As most people know, I am a President Obama supporter. I even had my car vandalized because of it. I consider myself pretty darn liberal, much to the chagrin of some family members. People have different reasons they find important. Some people believe the economy is the most important factor, some immigration, some foreign policy/the War in Afghanistan, others LGBTQIA or equal rights issues, the environment, reproductive rights, or religious freedom.
I know that some people (mostly older, mostly Republican) think that young people who vote Democrat will eventually "come to their senses" and vote Republican as they age. Those people think that someone like myself doesn't care about the correct or appropriate issues and don't bother to research policy stances on the ones we do find important. While I know that some people my age will switch parties and ways of thinking as they get older, I don't think I will. The issues that matter to me right now will remain the issues that I continue to care about for the rest of my life. Others may find those issues trivial or frivolous or "pie in the sky"/idealistic, but to me, they make up who I am.
I stand with President Obama for four more years, not because I agree with him on every issue (because, I assure you, I have disagreed with his stances or approaches many times), but because I believe he cares about ME. Me as a student, as a woman, as a member and supporter of the LGBTQIA community, as a person who has taken enough environmental science/studies classes to know to be concerned, as a member of the 47% of Americans that don't pay taxes, as a sister to two veterans, as an aunt to two beautiful little boys, as a daughter to four parents who will eventually be senior citizens and retired, as a citizen of the United States of America.
You may not understand the issues I care about, agree with them, or even see that they are issues, but, please, I beg of you, respect them.
