I voted today

I voted! I'm registered as absentee, and yesterday I received my ballot in the mail. I voted for assisted suicide, money for parks, and against money for reprogramming the traffic lights...and I voted for President! I can't believe it's down to this. If someone had told me 3 months ago I would be voting for Obama, I would have called them a liar. I was voting for Biden, then Clinton, and then McCain. But a number of things changed my mind. First was McCain's pandering to the Christian Right. I don't think this corresponds to his personal politics, but the Republican party has gotten to the point that winning the Christian Right is essential to a successful presidential bid. And my personal views could not be more divergent from that group. Then McCain chose Sarah Palin for his running mate, and not only was it further evidence of pandering, but she scares the bejesus out of me. She's an uneducated, far right wing, gun-toting, endangered species killing, oil company pandering, pro-life, corrupt nightmare. She makes me ashamed to be a woman, and frankly, worry about the caliber of American politics when someone like her reaches the position she has. She literally makes me ill.
Add to this Obama's choice of Biden as his running mate, and it was cinched. Biden represents a vital aspect of politics that has been missing from the White House for 8 years - statesmanship. As the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has more experience with foreign governments than anyone in the race, he is better versed in diplomacy, and is just generally well informed. Biden should be President, but we've gotten to a point in our history where glitter is more important than experience, and being smarter than the average American is a liability instead of a good thing. And so I voted for Biden, and by proxy Obama. I wish them well in what promises to be an extremely difficult election.