I have now officially voted and I did in fact vote for Barack Obama. I Feel like I tended to agree with him more frequently on the issues and although I don’t think John McCain was incompetent by any stretch of the imagination I just didn’t like his way of thinking and the future plans he had for the nation. I am glad that I had the opportunity to do this project and learn more about the candidates so that I wasn’t just voting blindly and I think that the research I did is valuable and practical information that will currently affect me in everyday life. The Election Day is coming up soon and I am so excited to see who will win. I think this election is particularly special because way it will be a first for our nation, it will either be the first women vice president or the first black president and I think both are a step in the right direction.

I think the debates had a lot of their own up and down sides. I think that McCain could have said “my friends” a lot less, and I think Obama could have worried less about John McCain’s attack ads. But still they were very educational and definitely affected my voting decision, I heard some things a liked and a lot of things I didn’t like but I guess that’s politics. I heard a lot of talk about the war and I strongly agreed with Obama and I think we should take military force out of Iraq, so I was glad to hear Obama talk about that. Also I heard both candidates address the current state of the economy, which is good they both established that it was a problem that needed to be fixed and I heard a lot of “this is America and we can do it!” kind of talk. But I failed to gather any candidate’s actual plan to restore our economic state. There was small talk about taxes, but I wanted an actual thought out system that could go in affect and I feel like I didn’t really get that.

In August of 2008 Obama said “Drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution.” I also really agree with this way of thinking. We can’t just drill forever and we can’t stay so dependent on gas, we should try to incorporate alternate fuel into our lives and we need our government to invest in this so that it’s an actual possibility and not just science fiction. If we seriously commit to finding an alternative fuel not only will it make us a more independently stable nation, but it could hopefully open up new doors for public transportation and cheaper prices for private transportation.

Obama also said “We must fight to rid our communities of meth” In February of 2008. I completely agree. I’m glad he figured that one out.

Obama also said that homosexuality is no more immoral then heterosexuality. I think this quote is true on many different levels, first that the only justification that people have come up with for homosexuality to be immoral religion deems it unnatural. Second this thinking has led to many complications in gay rights. I think that a gay couple that has decided to spend their lives together should have all the same rights as a married couple; I know that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman and blah blah blah. But, I’m not even talking about a religious marriage, because most religions disagree with a homosexual lifestyle. Which is fine, they can all agree to disagree and get over it, but I think that they should have equal rights as a married couple (such as being able to visit each other in the hospital). This is because rights and religion have NOTHING to do with each other at all. The rights are determined by the state and the state and church should be separate. So personally I feel that the state’s priorities should be equal rights first and religion never, because it would only complicate things. As for the whole homosexuality being unnatural which makes it immoral thing, that makes no sense to me at all. If you think about it in a philosophical sense, what is natural? And how does that determine the morality of a being or situation? Is Taco Bell natural? I wouldn’t think so but American’s seem to be fine with that. Are debit cards, lawnmowers, band aids, and skydiving really natural? I feel like these things aren’t natural at all. So I’m not saying that homosexuality may be natural, but I am saying that unnatural isn’t a bad thing at all, and it definitely has nothing to do with morals.

Obama said “put the confederate flag in a museum, not the state house” In April of 2007. I really like this quote a lot in comparison to John McCain’s quote. I feel like the confederate flag is a piece of history that should be remembered, but not in practical use. I feel surprised that states would even still won’t this flag up; I hope that everyone is aware that the south lost. Also that we are a much better country because the north won, so why fight to display a flag of the rightfully losing side in the civil war?

In January of 2000 John McCain said that the confederate flag was a symbol of “heritage.” I think he was trying to make everyone happy by not specifying if it was a good or bad thing just saying that it does in fact symbolize something but still he’s making it seem like a good thing. I am so sick of people supporting the confederate flag, as if America is still separated north from south. It’s thinking like this that leads to ignorance of thinking that we’re sovereign and independent, were all dependent on each other and were all American. So there is no need for the confederate flag anymore, and I personally think we should just make a world flag for all the countries and fly it because people categorize and separate themselves to much. I feel like we need to unify and lose all the labels and categories. I also feel like that was the original Idea for America, a place for unity and the confederate flag doesn’t fit into that picture. Also the reason the south separated from the north is because of slavery and the confederate flag is just a giant reminder of that disgraceful “heritage.”