This is a generational war. Re: Clinton vs Obama [View All]

[Meldread]

I am going to speak on things from my personal prospective.

I'm a 25 year old white gay male from Virginia, one of the later primary states. I normally feel like I am going against the tide of my generation when it comes to elections, but this time I feel that we're in sync. We are constantly seeing people my age come out on the side of Obama instead of Clinton, even among women. It's hard to describe how I feel about the Clinton's but when I think about it...

The first President I really remember is Bush's father. I do not remember him very well, and the only thing I really recall about him is the first Gulf War in Iraq. He became President when I was in the first grade and it was something that I did not really understand at the time. I remember watching his inauguration in a very small black and white TV in my classroom.

By the time I was in fourth grade, Bill Clinton was being sworn in as President. He is the first President I truly remember well. By the time I was in eight grade Bill Clinton was entering into his second term. After I graduated High School, just after turning 18 years old the year was 2000. George W. Bush took the White House. He took the White House again in 2004. Now we could be looking at Clinton again in 2008. If she wins the White House I will be 30 years old, and I will have seen nothing but Bush's and Clinton's in the White House for the majority of my life.

One of the things that made me angry was the sense that Hillary Clinton was somehow entitled to the White House. That it was "her turn" and that everyone should just allow her to have her turn. It makes me feel shut out of the process, because I don't feel like my generation has a turn. If Hillary gets her turn, when will I get mine?

I don't feel that many of these candidates understand my generation. We grew up during a technological revolution. Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement is something that happened in the distant past to us. The Cold War was over before some of us could even read. We learned about this stuff in HISTORY class. I'm looking to the future, and I look at many of these candidates and I don't see myself in their future. They are playing to an older crowd that does not involve me.

To my generation I see less distinction between black, white, male and female. I am happy that there could be a black President and I am happy that there could be a female President. Yet, these are not deciding factors for me. Obama inspired me because he's looking ahead. I don't know what the future will bring, but when Obama gives one of his speeches, I feel like that at the end of the day, he sees a place for me and my generation in his future.

I am not concerned with experience. It is over rated. No one person can know or be experienced in everything. That is why he has advisors and a cabinet. What is important to me is judgment. Barack Obama has proven to me that he has good judgment. It has been my generation, more so than others, that has carried the brunt of the Iraq War on its shoulders. It is my generation that will have to carry the debt created by Bush. It will be my generation who faces the possibility of there being no Social Security for us in the future. More than anything, it is my generation who has and will suffer the most in the years ahead. As the McCain generation dies of old age, it is my generation who will be left with the problems.

I have and will continue to support Barack Obama for these reasons and many others. I cannot say with certainty if things will turn out alright or if it will be a wise decision, but I know one thing: If we do not take this chance, then it may not present itself again until it is too late. If this campaign is about whose "turn" it is for the White House, then I feel I have a damn good argument: It is my turn. It is my generations turn. The others have had their chance, and we stand where we stand today because of it.

I am renewing my support for Barack Obama and embracing change in America.