There are many reasons I support Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) for president. However, I will share the most important reasons he gets my full support and that of my entire campaign team.
Barack Obama has chosen from the outset “to make a change to make a difference” by engaging new, young and disaffected voters.
Obama has been able to do this because of his years as a community organizer. As a fellow activist and teacher, I truly respect that choice.
It was not by accident; it was by design.
He believed in those people this country has too often neglected — including our own national Democratic Party — over the years.
Through his innovative and inspiring campaign, Obama has awakened a sleeping giant. And if that is all he will accomplish in his candidacy, that is more than symbolic, it is all but revolutionary.
We have a unique opportunity to engage voters throughout our district.
Together, we can work on issues of racial, economic and social justice between and beyond election cycles and devote ourselves to rebuilding struggling communities in and beyond our district.
I support Obama, not because Hillary Rodham Clinton is any less qualified to represent our party or our nation. However, this presidential election is so much bigger than the candidates themselves. It is about how one candidate has inspired segments of our society to become active and driven by hope to in turn rekindle that vitality and passion that all great social movements have centered on, lighting the path amid the darkest despair.
On April 22nd, I will have the honor to be on the same ballot and running on the same message of hope and change with Barack Obama, and I predict more young, first-time and irregular voters will come out to make their voices heard than ever before.
And those of us candidates who benefit from this electoral surge will have the responsibility to translate this energy into positive social change.
This is an exciting time and a daunting challenge. But can we do it?
Yes, we can!
