Four years ago, I watched Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party's nomination for president in Denver. At the time, I was an undecided voter. Not because John McCain or Sarah Palin shared my views. In fact, I guess you could say I was undecided between Barack Obama and just staying home.
You see, I had been an avid Hillary Clinton supporter throughout the primary in 2008. I was angry at how she was treated by the media and by her opponents. 18 million votes should have been worth more than what she was given. It should have been worth better than the way she was treated.
Then came that speech...Barack Obama, in a packed football stadium, in Denver.
"America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this"
Those words still ring in my memory. It was in that moment that I knew staying at home was not an option.
What Barack Obama said that night was right. It's still right and it's still the reason why I will be voting for President Obama again in November. The country that I live in and love so much is better than the eight years we had to live through with the previous administration. A vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would be a return to the policies from those eight years that drove us to crisis.
When I decided that night that I would have Barack Obama's back in the election, it was because I knew he would have mine if he got elected.
And he has.
In order to continue the contract of progress we entered into in 2008, Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected. He's earned the chance to continue to move this country forward. He has proven himself a pragmatic leader, willing to listen and always ready to lead. He's tackled healthcare reform, taken down the most evil man of my lifetime in Osama Bin Laden, saved the auto industry, improved America's reputation on the world stage, brought the war in Iraq to a close, ended "Don't Ask Don't Tell and became the first sitting US President in history to support marriage equality. The list could go on. It's a list of accomplishments on a progressive agenda not seen since LBJ.
He's survived a barrage of right-wing extremism, paranoid racists forwarding chain emails questioning the President's religion, heritage and "American-ness". Barack Obama was and is right: As Americans, we are better than that.
Every time this nation has been threatened whether from foreign enemies or the enemies of progress that are running for the opposition party its been ordinary people, teachers, farmers, and janitors that have stepped up to protect it. We are faced with that same task now in this election. We are faced with the choice of progress or regress.
I'll be choosing to move my country forward and the only man for that job already resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He resides there because ordinary people like you and me believed in his vision that we are better. I continue to believe in that vision. I believe in Barack Obama.
That's why he will get my vote. Again.
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