Primary Election Day in Indiana.

It's election day in Indiana! (It's also election day in North Carolina and I'm not trying to neglect them, but I live in the Hoosier state, so I'm very focused here.)

I've seen lots of volunteers who have been working hard to get out the vote. I've met some nice Republicans and some bigoted Democrats. There are Democrats who are voting for Clinton because she's white, or voting for Obama because he isn't white, or voting for Clinton because she's female, or voting for Obama because he's male. There is more at stake than race or gender; there are issues, leadership, motivation, the ability to change our government (and our society) for the better.

I chose Obama because Obama has changed me for the better and I've seen that same positive effect on so many other people. I'm white, so it isn't a racial thing, but seeing his very real chance at becoming President has made me believe that anything is possible. If I were basing that observation on surface-level pigeonholes, I'd probably be voting for Clinton for the belief that it's actually possible for a woman to become President; I am also female, after all. But no, this goes beyond that.

In Obama, I see a great leader who wants our great country to live up to its great potential. I see someone who positively encourages us to fight to get ahead - not in a cutthroat way, not by cutting down our adversaries and adversities, but by never giving up on ourselves, to believe in the American Dream, to insist that our country and our citizens do not have to settle for less than what satisfies us. It has changed me; I have shed a certain cynicism that has shielded me well since grade school. When things aren't going my way - if I've had a bad day, if I'm suffering from any general ennui over the state of my life - I get more determined instead of more guardedly apathetic. I didn't realize this observation about myself; it has radiated and was told to me. It's true.

Barack Obama won't work miracles or solve all of our problems, but he has worked in poor communities, seen the frustrations, hopes, and fears of Americans, seen our desires for better lives and our cynicism that it won't and can't ever happen. He will help bring us to believe that we CAN do better; he will motivate us to try. He will set the spark that lights the fire.

Good luck on this election day...