Here is a pic of my campaign bag...My Campaign Bag

I have to tell you, today I voted for Barack, and I cried. After I wrote this, I remembered that there was a wonderful video during the primaries, and I really did not feel the intensity of it until I voted in the general...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBVKsartJFs

 At the U of A Student Union, I was just a few blocks from where I was when I heard that Dr. King was assasinated, and less then that far away from where I was when I heard that Bobby Kennedy was assasinated. The lifelong friend I was with on both of those days (and actually on the day we got the news about JFK), has since died of breast cancer. We had our children, passed middle age, and I wish she, and my Nana, who took me to my first civil rights march in Oakland, could be here now, and go with me to the polls.

There, at the Union, I was right on the Mall where I helped plant 444 crosses for Arizonans killed the Viet Nam war, including several classmates. Then again today, while walking back to work, I passed a corner where two ROTC students in uniform had tried to take a box of black armbands from me, destined for my department faculty for that Viet Nam moritorium day observance. One of our linebackers, "Bad Brad" who was in my English class, appeared suddenly, put his massive hand on my shoulder, and asked "Do you have a problem with my little friend here?' Brad was as tall as a tree, well over 300 pounds, and very black. Needless to say, these two little bullies scurried back into whatever rat-hole they had crawled out of to shove me up against the wall.

I moved back here in 2000. I work for right on the UofA campus. I am so blessed to be able to vote for Barack in a place where I was such an young college student activist, and to walk by these places that are connected to that past. I know Barack is not the perfect progressive candidate, but I believe that he can bring us together, and heal many of the ancient wounds.

The odd thing is, that McCain missed all of these years of the American Experience. I had friends and family members on the ground and at risk during the entire Viet Nam war, and prayed for there safe return every day. But two, two-year, tours were the max. John was in the hell-whole when Dr. King and Bobby were assasinated. He missed, through no fault of his own, the terrible shootings at Kent State, the Democratic Convention Riots, watergate and the impeachment hearings - he has failed to connect, and possibly this has a lot to do with it...

I also realized, when he seemed so unpreturbed by the horrible crowd behavior at the Palin rallys that he missed the horrible Wallace campaign, and all of the ugliness of those years. He just doesn't get it, because he missed the experience. Anyhow, I started this to tell you how I cried, and how much it meant for me to vote for Barack Obama, and his vision.

I have been off-line since just after the primaries, unless I go by a café, or stay late at work...and I can't deal with the negativity of the dem HQ crowds here, as I am more like my candidate in terms of knowing that inclusion and reaching out are only harder when all this division has become entrenched.

Every few decades, it seems as though we check into recovery with a democratic slate, and everything gets balanced back, we DO redistribute and life gets better... Presidents FDR, Kennedy, Clinton...and then we (yes we, red or blue) always seem to forget and go back to that addiction to power and greed, until we get so sick, and so divided -- and have to go back to rehab again.... Having watched this silly cycle for more than half a century I pray that we can cross back to being a great nation again, and finally kick the colonial attitude and all this false pride that just gets us in trouble.

Just to rekindle the hope, and keep us all energized over the next few days, one of my favorite campaign videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBk32JsV9l8

Barack, YES WE CAN! And we all need to, and will take up our part in rebuilding this great nation...

The debate last night went well. I especially liked the look of frustration + on McCain's face while Barack remained calm and composed as John McCain went after him. The other thing I want to post is from yesterday's New York Times...excerpts from "Poll Says McCain Hurts His Bid by Using Attacks.

 "The McCain campaign's recent angry tone and sharply personal attacks on Senator Barack Obama appear to have backfired and tarnished Senator John McCain mor than their intended target, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll has found.

After several weeks in which the McCain campaign unleashed a series of strong political attacks on Mr. Obama, trying to tie him to a former 1960's radical, among other things, the poll found that more voters see Mr. McCain as waging a negative campaign than Mr. Obama. Six in 10 voters surveyed said that Mr. McCain had spent moare time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president; by about the same number, voters said Mr. Obama was spending more of his time explaining than attacking.

Over all, the poll found that if the election were held today, 53% of those determined to be probable voters said they would vote for Mr. Obama and 39% said they would vote for Mr. McCain.

 ......

Voters who said their opinions of Mr. Obama had changed recently were twice as likely to say they had grown nore favorable as to say they had worsened. And voters who said that their views of Mr. McCain had changed were three times more likely to say that they had worsened than to say they had improved.

The top reasons cited by those who said they thought less of Mr. McCain were his recent attacks and his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate....With the election unfolding against the backdrop of an extraordinary economic crisis, a lack of confidence in government, and two wars, the survey described a very inhospitiable environment for any Republican to run for office. More than 8 in 10 Americans do not trust the government to do what is right, the highest ever recorded in a Times/CBS News poll. And Mr. McCain is trying to keep the White House in Republican hands at a time when President Bush's job approval rating is at 24%, hovering near its historic low.

 ...

After several weeks in which the McCain campaign sought to tie Mr. Obama to William Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground terrorism group, 64% of voters said that they had either read or heard something about the subject. But a marority said they were not bothered by Mr. Obama's background or past associations. Serveral people said in follow-up interviews that they felt that Mr. McCain's attacks on Mr. Obama were too rooted in the past, or too unconnected to the nation's major problems.

What bothers me is that McCain initially talked about running a campaign on issues and I want to hear him talk about the issues," said Flavio Lorenzoni, a 59-year-old independent from Manalapan, N.J. "But we're being contantly bombarded with attacks that aren't relevant to making a decision about what direction McCain would take the country. McCain hasn't addressed the real issues. He's only touched on them very narrowly. This is a time when we need to address issues much more clearly than they ever have been in the past."

 ...

...roughly 7 in 10 voters said Mr. Obama had the right kind of temperament and personality to be president; just over half said the same of Mr. McCain.

Mr. Obama's supporters continued to be more enthusiastic about him than Mr. McCain's supporters, the poll found, and more of those surveyed said they had confidence in Mr. Obama than in Mr. McCain to make the right decisions about the economy and health care. And while mor than 6 in 10 said Mr. Obama understood the needs and problems of people like them, more than half sanid Mr. McCain did not.

Motivation is very important, and thus my simple religion is love, respect for others, honesty: teachings that cover not only religion but also the fields of politics, economics, business, science, law, medicine-everywhere. With proper motivation these can help humanity…

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama