First Post

The following is an email I sent out today:

I have spent the last month wrestling with the idea of sending out this email. I have received a few like the one I'm about to write and they have had mixed results on me, so I know the trepidation you might feel as you begin to read this.

All I can say in my defense is that I have never sent such correspondence in my life. With that in mind, I hope you will forgive me if you find this to be annoying.

At some point during my childhood someone very close to me lamented that they wished "just once" they could "vote for a presidential candidate rather than against one." While I have never had such clear cut opinions about the candidate for whom I've voted in a general election, I must admit I've never whole-heartedly supported or have even been excited about the prospect of that candidate being president. There have been a few I have liked during primary season but I have never lived in a state that had a primary early enough for my vote to make a difference.

On Tuesday, February 5, 2008, for the first time after almost 20 years of voting in national elections I will be voting for a presidential candidate:

I will be voting for Barack Obama.

This is not to say that I agree with every issue. What I agree with is the cause he has outlined and the approach to government he has described. Rather than lengthen this email with all of that I only ask you to investigate him for yourself.

In earlier versions of this email I have written my observations and conclusions about the other candidates. After deliberation I have decided to spare you and leave those out after I realized my objective is not to attack. It was to influence you to investigate the possibility.

I have been slow in placing my support behind Senator Obama. I read his first book a year ago and even though I was attracted to his philosophy and persona I didn't allow myself to be completely persuaded. In the year that has followed, I have seen nothing but complete consistency with the ideas and behavior put down in that book.

It is a risky thing to put one's faith in a presidential candidate. It is for that reason that I will not go so far as to say that any of you are wrong for supporting the candidate you may be supporting. But if you are uncertain or lukewarm about your candidate I only ask you to investigate the possibility of an Obama presidency.

If you consider what I have written to be an intrusion, I hope you will forgive me.

With all the demands of my schedule this email may be all I can do in the effort of campaigning for Barack Obama at this time.

I just don't want to look back on this election and regret that I didn't do all I could for something in which I believed.

Jack