Obama: Perspective from a Red State

I liked Todd's idea for this blog entry, but I have been feeling that it's somewhat misleading. I do live in a red state, but I am most definitely blue, so I wasn't exactly sure that I could give the proper "red state" perspective.

But then again, I realized that there's actually quite a few of us Blues in Red States(BIRS), and it's a different position to be in. It makes me feel like I need to be more outspoken about my beliefs, because the majority of my fellow state citizens think I'm wrong. I think it also makes me examine my beliefs more, as I'm concerned that I might actually be called upon to defend them, and need to explain why I'm convinced that humans and dinosaurs did not co-exist peacefully.

So, I think partly due to my living in a red state, and partly due to my recent obsession with NPR, I've learned more about Barack Obama than I ever have about a presidential candidate so early in the race. And, in my opinion, so far so good.

I find it amazing in the best possible way that it's entirely possible for the Democratic Presidential nominee to come down to choosing between a black man or a woman. It makes me feel like our society might actually be making progress! Or just the liberal part of it, anyway.

I really like Barack Obama so far. His stance on the war in Iraq, renewable energy, and education reform are all opinions that I can agree with, at least initially. I'm a little concerned about once the mud-slinging starts: what might I find out about him to disillusion my current state of naive hope? Maybe nothing.

Maybe, as the race for the presidency moves forward and I learn more about his platform, I might even put a bumper sticker on my car, to showcase my BIRS status and maybe even provoke some dialogue. And anyone who knows about my aversion to 1) bumper stickers, and 2) talking to people, knows what a big step that would be for me.