First thing's first, I have a confession.
I date a Republican.
Yes, cat's out of the bag, I believe I've fallen in love with a non-Obama lover. The scandal. To be perfectly serious though, the difference between the two of us has caused me to seriously think about my political affiliation and how its evolved since I was admitted to American.
I liked Obama first and foremost because he was mixed.
Knowing nothing of his policies, the way his religion influenced them, or any of his backstory, I latched onto the fact that like myself, he came from the beauteous union of an interracial couple. Other than Halle Berry and Alicia Keys, I had no other blaucasian public figures to look up to. At least, not that I was fully aware of. I was in 9th grade, enrolled in a Local, State and National Government class, and it didn't take much to inspire me.
Four years later, I started to realize exactly why I remained a supporter of Barack Obama. No longer was my enthusiasm based solely off of a biracial man being the first to lead our country. Now, I am starting to realize that I support Obama because I believe that he's doing everything he can to support me.
I am a poor college student. Like myself and the millions of my peers knocking out 4-6 classes a semester just to hope to get even a whiff of a job, I'm worried about the state of our nation in terms of its students. We are under-represented, under-appreciated, and under-wanted in general. If it weren't for the amazing financial aid package that delighted my eyes on December 16th, 2011, I wouldn't be sitting in my dorm room, a student of one of the best universities in the USA. But just because I am, does not mean my future is ensured in any kind of way.
Barack Obama knows what it's like to be burdened down under a pile of loans. He's had to use every square inch of his intelligence to get him to where he is today, even if he didn't have the money to get there in the first place. I have no money. I also have no hope that a sour-faced old man with the indecency to say that he loves this country, yet doesn't trust it with his bank accounts, will fight to make sure that my no-money having self can stay in school when I'm already struggling to stay for my second semester. The same man that I see on TV, that avoids questions, kicks out his own supporters based on sexual orientation, and that can't take an ounce of criticism, scares me.
But I vote for Obama just because he's black.
My boyfriend is a Republican. My boyfriend's parents are Republican.
I am a Democrat. My parents are Democrats.
I believe that college students need someone to create a brighter future so that we may truly contribute to the world some day. I believe that women should have the right to determine any and everything that happens to their bodies, especially if it could potentially cost them their life. I believe that one president did not screw up our economy so thoroughly in only 4 years, no matter what party he originated from.
I believe that I, and every other person in this country, have a right to love and marry whoever they want, regardless of gender. I believe that we created this country to be an open door to the persecuted, the destitute, and the talented - with limits, that door needs to remain open. I believe that guns belong in the hands of our soldiers, and not the hands of thieves stalking the pathways behind my high school, killing innocent people in cold blood.
I believe in hope. I believe that one day I won't be on the streets, borrowing computers in the library to piece movies together and have them graciously played at local theaters. I believe that I'll be able to raise kids out of a small apartment, and make enough to buy them everything my parents struggled to give me and more. I believe that it's possible to dream big and achieve even bigger. I believe that I can and will do great things one day.
What I don't believe is that any of that will ever happen with Mitt Romney, or anyone else of similar political standing, as President of the United States.
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