Yesterday, I exercised my right as an American and voted. I voted for change. I voted with hope and optimism that things could be better. I knew all along that I was in the minority. It was clear that most of my neighbors, friends, and associates at work were all going to vote for 4 more years. 4 more years of what I saw, and still see, as the wrong way to do things. The danger that lurks when an overly conservative religious right is leading. I believe, right or wrong, that we will lose some of the freedoms that we have today. I listened to these people and the reasons that they made the choices that they did, and I never really heard a reason that I could agree with. Listening to some of the reasons that were given for voting for Bush, I am surprised even they could take themselves seriously.

I am a registered Democrat, but I don’t vote the Party line. I have always voted for who I felt was the best candidate. In 2000 I voted to put George W. Bush in office because I felt he could do the best job. He earned my trust. Over the last 4 years he lost that trust, which is why I pulled the lever to elect John Kerry as our President. Everyone knew it would be close. The results show what a divided America we are. I won’t deny that we, as a country, have been in a steady moral decline for a while now. I won’t argue that I would like to see some of that cleaned up, as I don’t like my children to hear everything that is allowed to be broadcast across the public airwaves. But, as a parent, I alone want to be able to control that access – and I do. Those that know me know I listen to Howard Stern at times. Would I let my kids listen to him? No. They can’t handle what they are hearing, so I don’t have that station on when they are in the car. I don’t let them hear a lot of the songs that are played on the radio anymore either. I don’t want them hearing some of the lyrics that are out there. But it is me that is controlling that access, not the Government.

You are entitled to believe what you want to believe and vote for who you want to vote for. I choose to believe that we have been lied to about a lot of different things over the past 4 years. I choose to believe that no man should be allowed to be involved in determining if a woman can have an abortion. Leave that entirely in the hands of women. We, as men, will never understand what a woman would have to go through in regards to that, so we shouldn’t even try to act like we have any part in that decision. I choose to believe that no man is smart enough to make decisions without the assistance and knowledge of others. I trust no man that says he bases a decision on prayer instead of looking at the facts around him. Anyone that refuses to change his decision even when confronted with facts that state how wrong he is, is not fit to lead a business, let alone a country.

But these things that I believe in, like truth, didn’t win yesterday. George is still our President. He didn’t just win the electoral college, he won the majority of the people’s vote as well. So it must be me that is out of touch with reality. I didn’t base my vote on how my family has always voted. I didn’t vote the same as my neighbors because that seemed like a popular, safe way to vote. I didn’t vote for someone just because they used the words God and Prayer every chance they got, which I still believe was all just very good marketing on the Republican’s part. I voted for a better future for my children. I voted for my sister-In-Law, who I love dearly, to stay home instead of heading back to the Middle East in the Air Force, for the 3rd time. Ironically, she probably voted to keep Bush in office!

I voted for John Kerry and I’m proud of it.

(update: just corrected a few typos)