Even if he's not the president, he can still be my boyfriend

I was a little weepy this morning. No, I haven't dipped back in to the land of the miserable...these were tears of excitement, happiness and relief. I was weepy because I was watching Barack Obama's speech after surpassing the number of pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

I started out supporting Ralph Nader, convinced that none of the mainstream parties would represent my views in politics. How could they? I'm so left I'm almost off the political map (my anarchist friends are convinced I am an anarchist in denial). At first I was taken with the idea of a woman as president, but realised quickly that I was unwilling to elect a woman at any cost - Hillary just didn't convince me that she wouldn't continue to make such disastrous decisions as suppressing trade union activity for Wal-Mart employees or getting into bed with corporations. Obama was appealing, but I was skeptical. I was wary of letting my emotions get the better of me and voting for a man I frankly was developing a bit of a crush on, instead of making my decision based on the facts. Yes, Nader was for me. Good old liberal, anti-capitalist Nader.

The the Race Speech happened.

I was blown away by Obama's frankness, his willingness to talk about things that politicians tend to dance around at all costs. Never had I seen a politician stand up and say what I was thinking without wondering if they were just feeding me a bunch of lines. He took my breath away. I resisted for a bit longer, but it was futile. Like so many others I let myself get carried away with the emotion of having someone use words like "hope" so willingly and unashamedly. I watched him during the debates, watched him speak with passion and humility. It's true, he doesn't always give direct solutions - that scared me at first. But by God, he is asking the questions! He is saying what needs to change, and it is all the same things that have left me ashamed and afraid for my country over the last several years. When he told the Tennessee GOP "lay my wife" I wanted to kiss him.

I know there is every chance that Obama's speeches are simply laced with rhetoric, that it is all a persona or that he is just a charismatic speaker with empty answers to the world's problems. But I believe him. I really believe him. Maybe it is just because I want to, because I need to feel proud of where I come from (or at least not have to defend myself to everyone who wants to pick a fight with me over American foreign policy). Whatever the case, I was giddy all day at the thought of hearing speeches like this for the next four (eight?) years.