Elections, Assumptions, and Barack Obama...

For those of you who don't know and automatically assume. I am not a registered Democrat. I am registered in the Green Party. The reason I bring this up is because in this political season almost everyone assumes I am a Democrat and will be voting for Barack Obama.

Don't worry I certainly won't be voting for John McCain. But as a registered Green I do have the chance to vote for Cynthina McKinney and Rosa Clemente www.votetruth08.com The first party that has nominated two women (and two women of color) for President and Vice President. McKinney is a former Democrat representing Georgia who is famous or infamous for her run in with a security guard on Capitol Hill. Clemente is a Afro-Puerto Rican Hip Hop Activist from NY.

Some may wonder why I would even consider this choice. If you think about it. Obama will easily win the California electoral votes and other parties must have at least 2% of the electorate to remain viable in most states. It's also a choice I make on grounds that even though I am inspired by Barack's message of Change and inspired by his visions of Hope I keep coming back to the fact that the Democratic party even though more progressive than the Republican party it's still two sides of the same coin.

The other thing to take into consideration in this equation is the history of electing a man of African descent as President of the United States. Is that reason enough for me to do it? I think a lot of people will look to this as a sign that racism and prejudice no longer exists in this country and no matter who is President that is simply not true. I even had a friend who uses a website for dating and had gotten messages from white men telling him they were supporting Obama as if that proved how liberal and open minded they were.

I do think of my parents and how in their lifetime they never thought this would be possible. My mother is the daughter of a former sharecropper from Cottonplant, Arkansas who watched as her father was called "boy". To this day she will not let anyone refer to her as "gal".

At this point I haven't decided how I will vote and I am not even sure I will make it public. I have found this election season to be one of the most exciting and interesting of my entire adult life. I can't imagine how a first time voter would feel.

I support anyone's right to vote how they see fit whether I agree with their choice strongly (McCain/Palin) or not. I just don't think we should make assumptions of how or who someone should vote for...