"Not this Time. Not this Year."

"Not This Time. Not This Year"
All the Obama fans (me included) are going gaga over "Yes We Can". It has become Obama's catchphrase for this election. There is a Will.i.am video and song set to one of Obama's speeches that over 5 million people have viewed on youtube in the last week. Impressive.

In fact, it is so popular, that the Obama campaign is actually being sued for copyright infringements by more that one party! (Unfortunately the lawsuit in this country is a sign that a lot of people are responding to you) There is some children's book called Yes We Can. Also the estate of Sammy Davis Jr. is all up in arms because it is too close to "Yes I Can" - the title of Sammy's autobiography. I even heard an outside rumor that the producers of Avenue Q want in on the legal action because of that musical's song called "Yes We Can".

Anyway, they all are crazy, but I digress......I have to be honest that the Obama phrase that he uses in his speeches all the time that I most enjoy is "Not this Time, Not this Year. " I heard him say this, and it really put into words what I have been saying about this election all along that seemed so different from other elections in the past.

So....just for fun, I am going to list the things I didn't like about elections in the past, and I am thrilled to be able to say "Not this Time; Not this Year" about. I fully expect this to be Velveeta, and a little preachy. Enjoy.......

1. Four years ago, I spent the entire pre nomination season not really feeling attached to any of the candidates on the democratic side. I felt like the party was really scraping the barrel with everyone they put up.

Not this time. Not this year.

I was a wreck the whole week before the Missouri primary because I had been on team Clinton for awhile, but I was so impressed by Obama lately. My problem was that I thought both candidates were so great, I was not able to decide between them. I had a panic attack at the electronic voting thing. The old lady volunteering actually came to see if I was alright, because she thought I was confused how to use the machine. I was very embarrassed to tell her that the reason I was still staring at the machine after 20 minutes was that I was still deciding who to vote for. I went with Obama in the end.....and definitely feel I have made the right decision.


2. Last prez election, I got really annoyed at people I knew who were completely ignorant on the election, and could really care less about politics at all, that I felt were blindly voting for Bush again. They seemed to not even know what the issues were, or care that that our President politics differed greatly from their best interests.

Not this time. Not this year.

I am actually amazed at friends of mine who are educating themselves this time round. I'm ecstatic that a couple of my die-hard GOP fan buds went blue state on me in the Missouri primary. Even among my staunchly Republicans friends, I feel like I have had intelligent conversations, and lively debates about the issues, that didn't end with me thinking they are delusional like a lot of "across party line" convos I had last year ended.


3. Even with the P. Diddy's "Get out and Vote" thing last year that seemed to get a lot of headlines, young voters and college kids did not really rock the vote, or go out in the droves that everyone thought would happen in '04. When all was said and done, the percentages of voters from 18-25 was just as low as it has been every election.

Not this time. Not this year.

The overwhelming support that Obama has seen on college campuses is phenomenal. Even the Hillary campaign talked about rampant support from universities. Many media sources have said that the record number of voters in the primaries this year has been in part due to the number of young voters. I don't know the reason...it could be that their was a small baby boom around 20 years ago that means a lot of first time voters this election, or that the candidates are actually making an effort to engage young people like not seen 4 years ago. Whatever the reason may be...it is awesome!!!! And, I hope this momentum keeps going.

Personal story: I had a very liberal; somewhat zany, social studies teacher in high school, and when I was a senior...there were a handful of students who were 18 by election time. (I was not one....I missed voting for Clinton against Bush Sr. in 1992 by 13 days. I was pissed.) Anyway, this teacher let those of voting age leave campus during her class on Election Day to go vote. I thought that was a great idea. When I was in college, I remember that there a program to drive students who didn't have a car, to the polling places in Columbia. I want to, and probably will, hear more stories like that this go around. This is going to be a year where the younger voices will be heard. I bet a lot of musicians and actors will have a lot of similar to "rock the vote" programs starting this summer. I am curious to see how creative they get.


4. The election last time, I feel, got very religious and it seemed the morality police were vocal through the campaigns in '04.

Not this time. Not this year.

If it is McCain that gets the nomination for the Republicans, I would like to see the GOP even try to run with some ridiculous family values bullshit for this election - considering McCain's 2nd trophy wife, whose like 25 years younger than him, and has a prescription drug problem.

Also, I will be curious to see the reaction of the catholic priest and bishops who were so vocal last election about it being a sin to vote for a candidate who was either prochoice or an advocate of gay rights. Well, McCain is neither prochoice or an advocate of gay rights, but he is also against a constitutional amendment determining that life begins at conception, or one explicitly stating that marriage is between a man and a woman. That's not going to be good enough for the Archbishop Burkes of this country, and without a full-on prolife and anti-gay rights candidate, I bet priests and ministers are going to have to avoid talking politically about these subjects on the pulpit (which if they want to keep their tax free statuses, they should be doing anyway). This is a big one for me...keeping the churches out of this election.


5. In '04, I think the main reason Bush won had to do with playing on the country's still fresh fear of terrorism, and his leadership for the ongoing war.

Not this time. Not this year.

I think everyone can agree that this war, whether you support it or not, has not progressed well. And it certainly has not curbed the threat of terrorism in the least. Now I may be generalizing her, but most people in this country want an ending to it. Either as soon as possible, as most Democrats feel.......or with an organized, more structured plan from this point forward, as most Republicans feel. No one can argue that it has been more expensive (both monetarily and in causalities) than anyone reasonably expected.

I know I am not a Republican (that's an understatement) but I can't see a lot of GOPers really supporting this "hundred year war if we have to" phrase that McCain was quoted as saying. That perspective is going to have to be watered down when this election heats up, and I am A.O.K. with that. I was against the war in the beginning, and I was certainly sick and tired of hearing support for it during the '04 campaigns.

"Not this Time. Not this Year." That's my slogan until November. Obama rocks!