Elections

Driving through Equality, Alabama, you can see all kinds of interesting things. Right before we got to this sign, we passed a manufactured home (a.k.a. trailer) with, not an American flag flying high in the front yard, but a confederate flag flying. And, I repeat, we were driving through Equality, Alabama.

This sign caught my eye...that's one way to find people to run for office. The Volunteer Fire Department Board seems pretty desperate for candidates. I guess they'll take anyone.

Driving through Equality...thinking about elections...with the primary approaching on the 5th, the elections this year are exciting, historical and confusing to me. My hypothesis is that white males are probably doing the best job of actually researching the candidates, all the candidates, to see who they believe has the plans, ideas, skills to lead our country. Many of the rest of us, and I include myself in this category, are so caught up in the fact that we have a woman and a black man who are actually in the running for being president, that we don't see quite so objectively.

I want my children to grow up knowing that anyone can be president - black, white, woman, man, Christian, Jew, and hopefully we'll have even more options. I'm so ready for that. But, I hope that it doesn't blind me into not educating myself enough. Right now, I feel like I'm deciding between Hillary or Obama and just making sure that they'll do fine as president - that I can live with what they will offer, that they're good enough...You know, let's just get someone else in the White House already...

And I'm not quite ready to say that my (and others') reasoning is wrong. I think it is time. I think it's past time. We talk about America being so diverse, yet you look at our leadership and it is not diverse. At all. It's time.

So, I want to commit myself to being educated about the candidates and not vote completely out of my heart and passion and desire to see our country make history by electing a woman or black man as president. I also want to genuinely and sincerely believe in the candidate that I vote for and their ability to lead our country.

But, I do have to say, that in this particular election, heart and passion will be a big factor. At this point, I just can't let go of that completely.