This election is by far the most interested I've ever been in any election in my whole life. Not only because of the possibility of witnessing history and potentially seeing a Black man or woman in the White House, but mainly because the huge effect this election will have on the way our nation will operate and be viewed in years to come.
Sure, every election has an effect on our nation, but this current administration has fucked things up SO bad that the outcome of this election will dictate more change than ever before.
In previous years (specifically these past two terms), like many of my peers, I really never cared to follow the debates closely, if even at all. I always figured that I'm only one person, a minority of minorities at that, and things will fall into place in a way that won't drastically effect the way we live life in America. However, after witnessing this administration, which I think it's more than safe to say that it's the worst in the history of our country, along with being a little bit older, I feel it's time to get my ass in the mix.
So this past weekend, I headed out to my first caucus with some friends. None of us had ever voted before so we didn't know what to expect. We found our group within our precinct, signed our ballots and looked at each other like, "Is that it?" Pretty much. The whole things seemed like a place where you can get together with fellow Americans within your community and debate on why you support who you support, in hopes to sway their vote towards your candidate by the end of the event. So we decided to mingle with everyone in our group, both Hillary and Obama supporters, to hear the reason behind their votes. It was very interesting.
I recall one Hillary supporter, a white man probably mid to late thirties, stating the reason behind his vote for Hillary was because he felt that she had more political power, which allowed her to raise more money, and he couldn't support someone who had a hard time raising money. My friend, Lull, whom I was with, rebutted him with, "You say Obama can't raise any money, but since Super Tuesday, he raised five million-", a man interrupts Lull, correcting him, "Seven million", Lull continues, "Correction: seven million dollars". To where I added, "And didn't Hillary have to come out the pocket four or five million dollars?" The guy didn't have anything to say after that until he turned to Lull and referred to his skin color, "Well, a lot of African Americans ARE supporting Obama." To where Lull replied, "Yeah, a lot of the young voters are voting for him." And the guy had the audacity to get offended from that!
The most interesting Hillary supporter was this one, a white woman in her late forties, who pulled a Hillary and totally cried in front of everyone. The ONLY reason behind her vote was because Hillary was proposing universal healthcare. As she said that, you can see everyone on the Obama side looking at each other like, "Wait. Did I miss something? Obama is proposing universal healthcare too!" She then began crying as she told us a story of a man she saw in the grocery store with cancer and how he wouldn't be able to be treated otherwise. Frickin a'!
But, all in all, it was good. For the most part, a lot of the people there (or at least in our group) were emotionally driven towards their candidate and I was kinda hoping for debates that were more based on the politics. But oh well, it was a great experience to have.
Obama for your mama!