Oh, Bama

I have stayed up too late tonight, but it was worth it. This is not a political endorsement but a personal one.

In the last week, I have often considered that I might want to move to Iowa. Not for real, mind you, but because I am really moved by the idea of caucusing. Let's divide ourselves between the people who really don't care (which is, IMHO, fine) and those who do, and let those who do care work to make their vote happen. There is something intimate about it, challenging, and it requires not just a mindless pulling of the lever.

So obviously, I'm not moving, and I was sitting here in Manhattan watching Obama win the Iowa caucus.

And I cried when he spoke. I tried to hide it from my husband, who was reading the 5th Harry Potter and was engrossed. He couldn't have cared less.

I want to feel the hope that Obama spoke about. I want to know that the world I leave for my son will be even a smidgen better than the world I inherited from my parents. And I want damn good public education, affordable health care, and safe toys and clean air for my kids. I want the war to end and men and women who serve our country to be taken care of as they deserve and not (now I'm sounding like his speech) sitting on the corner outside my apartment begging for a hot meal.

I couldn't be happier to cry at Obama's speech. I finally feel enfranchised, like my vote will actually count, and even more so, will matter. I feel like there is possibility, that we do have a future.

And now I just discovered that I have to fill out the absentee ballot because I am supposed to vote on Super (Duper!) Tuesday and I will be visiting my family in warmer climes.

REGISTER to VOTE! I don't care who you vote for (really). Just do it. Thanks, Obama, for making me feel like we can do it.