Why I'm Voting

Going to lay it all out. Lay it all on the line (well lay it all on the HTML of the WWW). I believe that across the board it is best to be honest about your political opinions and feelings and therefore I am going to lay out the reasons for which I am voting for Barack Obama instead of John McCain.

1. Religion

Religion can't not be involved in politics. The distinct separation of church and state is one of the founding principles of our nation. As everyone remembers from their US history lessons settlers arrived on the shores of North American hundreds of years ago to escape religious persecution. As free citizens of this nation we have the choice to practice whatever religion we choose, including the choice of no religion at all.

I am a Christian yet I will never be able to agree with the idea of my personal ideas being completely right in the moral and obligatory sense of the word. My ideas and morals are no better than the next man and therefore there should never be a reason to force them on anyone else. Obama is a man of faith as is McCain. The difference though is that McCain feels that his ideas in life are more right for every American. As he would have it every person in this land will no longer have the ability to choose which morals in life they abide by, for they will have to abide by his. He is seeking to take away the freedom of choice in reproductive rights and the freedom to choose who we want to spend our lives with, merely because he thinks those who are different than him are wrong.

To put this in layman's terms. I could say I don't like the Backstreet Boys CD but I can't say that the Backstreet Boys CD is bad because there are many people who think otherwise.

2. The Supreme Court

McCain consistently says that he will not impose a litmus test on any Supreme Court nominee yet without any uncertainty he would never nominate someone to the bench who does not share the same religious views he does. How is this separation of church and state? His litmus test is obvious.

Obama on the other hand is a Constitution expert. He has a masters in Constitutional Law and taught for years at the collegiate level his knowledge of this important document. This is why he understands that appointing judges to the bench does not come down to a personal point of view but instead what is better for the nation, not for a select group of individuals who feel a certain way.

3. The War In Iraq

Until McCain can acknowledge that the war in Iraq is illegal I will never be able to fully respect McCain as a human being. For all the service he has given to this country as a POW and as an elected official it is in times like this where he needs to admit that the principles for going to war, as put forth by the Bush Administration, and supported by him were wrong.

There were never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda was never in Iraq prior to the US invasion.

If McCain is a man of principles he should admit publicly that he was wrong. In order to deal with the future we must understand the past. Admitting you're wrong is a hard thing to do, and it takes a big man to do so. In the spring of 2004 my friend Kevin was killed in Iraq. My friend Brian just left the service after two tours of duty in Iraq. The war has left us as a nation more hated and vulnerable than ever before in history. John Donne wrote that "No man is an island". The same is said for a nation. Our nation is not more safe and better off now than we were before Bush invaded Iraq. We now have more enemies in the world. In order to regain our integrity as a nation we must apologize to the world for what we have done wrong and seek to work with those who are different.

4. Health Care

Under McCain's health care plan I will not be offered coverage and in fact will not be able to pay for it. I have a pre-existing condition. My aorta valve does not work and will have to be replaced sometime in the near future. This requires open heart surgery. I was born with this problem. In the state of Colorado the cheapest insurance I can purchase is $720 a month! This insurance is required by federal law, HIPPA and or COBRA insurance. But under McCain these programs won't exist anymore.

Obama has clearly stated that under his health care plan those who need insurance coverage the most will be offered it at an affordable price. I am a hardworking tax paying citizen. I am not on Medicare or Medicaid or welfare. Yet no matter how hard I work I can barely afford my health insurance.

These 4 reasons are why I am voting for Obama. I believe in the freedom of choice, not associated with my ideas on life being any better or more right than any other human beings. I believe in the right to be happy and to pursue success based on these freedoms. And I believe in the principle of being honest and sincere.

I know there are those of you out there who disagree with me. We can disagree and still be friends. It is our job as Americans to understand our differences and to acknowledge that neither you nor I are better humans or Americans because of these differences. We can all co-exist as long as we recognize that we are all entitled to our own personal choices in life and that I will never ask anyone to change their way of living to be more like mine. We need to each have the option in life to pursue that path which is best for us.