With the momentum of this weekend's victories, I finally feel like it's okay to believe. That's why I'm joining my rep, Patrick Kennedy, and one of our state's leading Democrats, AG Patrick Lynch, and supporting Barack Obama. It's about hope and vision, but it's also about political reality. The numbers on most recent polls of head-to-head comparisons with likely Republican nominee John McCain are close, but all show independent voters leaning toward Obama. The stakes in this election are huge, and avoiding 4 more years of failed Bush policies is the most important factor. That's why I'll be voting for Obama in the March 4 primary, and I hope you'll consider doing the same.

It has not been easy to make this decision. I suspect that many of my fellow Democrats have been in the same position: we need to win, and we saw Hilary as the one who could get us there. Please don't get me wrong. I like Hilary, and if she gets the nomination, I will line up and work for her. I just feel that we have an opportunity for a fresh perspective, no disrespect to Hilary, who has admirable positions and proposals on all the important issues. Either candidate would be better than scary old ex-Straight Talker John McCain, especially as the continued strength of Huckabee pushes him to the right.

I first saw Obama when I was a volunteer at the Democratic Convention in Boston in 2004. Through sheer luck, I managed to get a hall pass for the night when Obama delivered the Keynote speech. It was the most amazing political experience I ever had; his clear intelligence, vision, and ability to captivate the entire Fleet Center was electrifying. As good as he was on TV, if you were there — even sitting way back in upper section 312 with the volunteers — you could feel him connecting. That night, I felt we had seen the future of the Democratic Party.

So I've nurtured a secret hope about him for a long time. But I'm a realist, too, and elections in America are less about vision and more about the "rectangle and the dollar sign," as Twyla Tharp described television. But with the momentum Obama has been showing — in breaking through the usual framing of mediated campaigns, in fundraising, in connecting with voters all around the country — well, even world-weary realists can succumb to hope.

So take a peek at his victory speech from last night, visit BarackObama.com to learn more about his positions, and, if you find that maybe you can believe too, make a donation. And don't forget to vote on March 4.

We are tired of being disappointed by our politics. We are tired of being let down. We’re tired of hearing promises made and ten-point plans proposed in the heat of a campaign only to have nothing change when everyone goes back to Washington. Because the lobbyists just write another check. Or because politicians start worrying about how they’ll win the next election instead of why they should. Or because they focus on who’s up and who’s down instead of who matters.

And while Washington is consumed with the same drama and division and distraction, another family puts up a For Sale sign in the front yard. Another factory shuts its doors forever. Another mother declares bankruptcy because she cannot pay her child’s medical bills.

And another soldier waves goodbye as he leaves on another tour of duty in a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged. It goes on and on and on, year after year after year.

[...]

When I am President, we will give our children the best possible start by investing in early childhood education. We’ll stop talking about how great our teachers are, and start rewarding them for their greatness, with better pay and more support. And we will provide every American with a $4,000 a year tax credit that will finally help make a college education affordable and available for all.

And when I am President, this party will be the party that finally makes sure our sons and daughters don’t grow up in a century where our economy is weighed down by our addiction to oil; our foreign policy is held hostage to the whims of dictators; and our planet passes a moment of no return. [...] That’s why I will set the goal of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, and we will meet it – with higher fuel standards and new investments in renewable fuels that will create millions of new jobs and entire new industries right here in America.

Finally, it is time to turn the page on eight years of a foreign policy that has made us less safe and less respected in the world. If I am the nominee of this party, John McCain will not be able to say that I agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq; agreed with him on giving George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran; and agree with him in embracing the Bush-Cheney policy of not talking to leaders we don’t like. Because that doesn’t make us look strong, it makes us look arrogant. John F. Kennedy said that you should never negotiate out of fear, but you should never fear to negotiate. And that’s what I will do as President. I don’t just want to end this war in Iraq, I want to end the mindset that got us into war. It is time to turn the page.

This is our moment. This is our time for change. Our party – the Democratic Party – has always been at its best when we’ve led not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction; when we’ve called all Americans to a common purpose – a higher purpose.
— Read the whole speech at BarackObama.com

Resources:
Visit BarackObama.com
Make a donation
Learn about the primary at the RI Secretary of State web site
Find your polling place at the Voter Information Center