**WARNING** Political Discussion to Follow

So some of you might get upset that I'm sharing my personal political views with you, but I don't really care. :) If you know me at all, you should know that I'm a Republican and proud of it. My original political support went out to Mitt Romney, not because of his religion but because of his views and ability. I was upset when he dropped out not because he was no longer a candidate but because of who was left.

It is no secret that America is at a crisis...for many reasons. Setting aside immigration, health care, and the economy, I feel like above all else, our next president needs to be able to unite America. I don't feel like John McCain can do that, and so I have realized that my partisan views have taken a back seat to my desire to see a strong leader, someone that can capture the support of the American public. I have long expressed my support of Obama over Clinton, but could never really muster facts and points to explain my support. Last night was the CNN debate between the two of them in Austin, Texas. I wasn't able to watch it because I wasn't home, but I found it on CNN's website and have spent the last hour or so watching.

Multiple times, Senators Obama and Clinton suggested that ideologically, they are all but identical. They agree on most issues and Obama even once gave the figure of 95% agreement. Then Obama made the comment that the next president needs to be able to inspire the people, and I thought "YES!" That's the difference. I have resigned to the fact that we will have a Democratic president beginning in 2009. The Democrats have succeeded at winning recent elections and I feel like they will continue to do so throughout the race to the White House. But the reason I support Obama over Clinton, despite his party affiliation, is because he inspires me. Throughout the debate, both were markedly civil, but Hillary Clinton was the only one to intimate the slightest amount of mudslinging. Obama held the high ground, and he makes me proud to be an American. Hillary doesn't.

Call my rationale juvenile and shallow, but at least I now understand where my support for Obama comes from--something that initiated nothing but stupor when reflected on before.