Wow. I have to say, this election has been the most fascinating one in all my 51 years, 10 months and 6 days...

(I enjoy your posts at BlogHer and am delighted to see you here.)

Thanks, Donna! :)

Hey, this is a little off topic, but here's a wonderful Obama site: http://obamawill.com

Enjoy!

Wow. Always knew Obama had broad appeal among Democrats, but never thought he'd be of interest to Republicans. I applaud your honesty and your courage to vote across party lines. We should all do more of that. We shouldn't vote for a party, we should vote for an individual and the issues.

I literally got chills when I saw your post title. Literally. in fact they are still radiating all over my body. We might be able to turn you into a "MOMocrat" yet!! In fact, I think I might need to xpost this. :-)

Ideally, Obama being able to actually guide marked improvements in healthcare and education would, in theory, reduce (possibly drastically) reduce the number of abortions by focusing on the "why" they happen rather than the legality of it.

Hi Bill! Thank you for the link!

Amy, thank you. I still feel giddy about it all. I think I made the right choice based on all that I know up to this point.

Stefania, I had chills when I was at the polls. Filling in the arrow, was huge. I think I did the right thing. Even if my relatives disown me! ;-)

Dawn, thank you for your comment. I've got another post planned on that issue. :)

Dana, i wish there were more voters like you -- people who carefully weigh their decision and then vote with integrity. good for you!

as for Obama's stance on abortion, i would urge you to read the chapter of his book "The Audacity of Hope," called "Faith." he traces his spiritual journey and talks about faith in the political arena. he addresses the abortion and gay rights thing too, and in context, it's not that different from the positions of many conservatives, only because he has to take his beliefs and translate them into lawmaking and voting, the outcome can be read differently.
in addition, you can read his comments about abortion in this article: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html

Amen Sister!

I too am a life-long Republican and am also going to be voting for Obama in our primary in two weeks.

I too have dramatically changed my views in the last few years.

I too long for something new and different and am very excited at the possibilities that lie with Obama.

Change is a difficult thing and it seems that changing political parties and/or opinions is very hard for many people to understand. Thanks for sharing the rationale behind your decision to make a change. Hopefully it will spur others to re-think their stance as well and we won't have to continue with business-as-usual.

I just don't understand why they can't alphabetize my candidate choices. Could've saved me at least a nano second, and as moms, we all know what we would've done with that extra nano second - PEE!

I too, am a Republican who has been strangely drawn to Obama. And, I agree with most of what you said except I will not vote for Obama. I really looked into where he stands on major issues and I'm not sure someone who is so liberal (even more so than Clinton) has a chance of uniting Republicans and Democrats. Sadly, I'm not a big John McCain fan either! It's slim pickings for the Republicans this election which is why I think so many people, despite their different views, are headed over to the Obama camp. I'm interested to see who McCain will choose as a running mate.

Like you, I tend to vote Republican. But I did want to see what all the Obama buzz was about, so my husband and I listened to his victory speech last night. Now, Republicans have to take responsibility for W and his exhorbitant spending (tax cuts? and deficit spending? hello?), along with every other stupid decision he's made, as painful as it is. So, I too want "change."

But, what I heard last night was more exhorbitant spending, even though the message was eloquently delivered. I think it's an appealing message if you are the proposed beneficiary. But if you have spent years in night school, as I have, it kind of ticks you off that someone wants to play Robin Hood with the little bit more that you earn. I never thought of myself as rich, but apparently Obama does, since it will be people like me who have to pay for all of these grand programs. I wish that I would have heard about cuts somewhere to pay for all of these dreams, but I didn't.

I really miss being from the party of small government and fiscal responsibility. Which party also protects the weak, the poor, and the unborn, who are unable to work and provide for themselves. I'm having a hard time finding one of those candidates.

Wow, Dana. Thanks so much for sharing your thought process. If only everyone would consider their vote as carefully (no matter where it falls).

My mother, who hasn't voted for a Democrat since the early 70's, is voting for Obama. Change is in the air.

Thank you so much for your bravery. I hope I display as much should I ever have to consider crossing party lines.

I've always been confused about the abortion debate when it comes to politics. I totally understand that there are many religions that are against abortion, and I'd never try to convert anyone from their religious beliefs. I would never encourage a Catholic to have an abortion or try to convince them that abortion is not wrong. But I'm not Catholic. I don't believe life begins at conception. So why should there be a law making me adhere to that particular religious belief?

I've always maintained that abortion is a religious and personal issue - not a political issue. I think it's between a woman and the God of her choice because ultimately it's she who will have to deal with the consequences.

If abortion is banned, women will die. Women DID die.

I have a friend who has always voted Republican based on thinking she was pro-life. Turns out, while she thinks abortion is wrong, she also thinks that the decision is not hers to make for other women.

I think a lot of people vote against their best interests when they aren't really considering the issues at hand. Props to you for taking the time to research.

Barack the Vote!

You might want to check over Barack Obama's Abortion Record before voting in the general election. And remember, God is watching you.

Hi Mark --

I know exactly where Barack Obama stands on abortion, and I've tracked his voting record.

And while it doesn't make me happy, I also have to take into account that his opposition, John McCain, isn't exactly the best candidate on abortion either.

While he wants to repeal Roe V. Wade, he also believes that abortion should be legal for cases of rape, incest and to protect the mother's health.

God is an all or nothing entity -- human life is human life. There is no shade of gray.

Naturally, then I had to take into consideration the other issues at hand and John McCain is not the best candidate.

I appreciate your comment, but your "fear of God" tactic is rather unwelcome. It's the kind of thing parents use on their children to guilt them into making choices they of -- and it's outdated. I'm certain I can think for myself.

Wow. Dana. I really do admire your thoughtfulness. This is a great post that makes me respect you even more.

Wow. Dana. I really do admire your thoughtfulness. This is a great post that makes me respect you even more.

Sounds as though you have seriously and carefully considered your options. I admire your willingness to think for yourself and outside the box. The next year or so should be an interesting political ride!

WOW! is right. Wanting to vote for Hillary because she is a woman is just sexist - something most women voting for Hillary that are not lifelong Democrats seem to have a problem admitting. It's almost as bad a black people for for Obama, because he is black, which is just racist. Especially when voting for a Democratic candidate continues to put the party in power who loves to treat women and minorities as second class citizens by telling them that they cannot succeed on their own, but must have the government step in and hold their hand or give them subsidies in order to succeed in life here.

As for Hillary, it is also quite overlooked that she also happens to be a dyed in the wool communist who has a huge hatred of anyone who has succeeded in life, other than herself of course - Mrs. "We're going to take things away from you for the common good." In other words, she wants use the power of government to steal from anyone she thinks worked too hard and succeeded more than people who chose not to work or made really bad decisions along the way. And the only politician that has been caught publicly in more lies than her husband is her. Unfortunately for her, she does not have the charisma that President Clinton had - he seems to have lost some it over the last couple of years, though.

While I have no great love of Republicans (our two-party system breeds corruption) there has not been a president in the Democratic party, or even a presidential contender from that party, in over 100 years who had any concern for the well-being of this country. And that includes the "hallowed" FDR (the most successful socialist ever elected to in the US) and JFK (who wouldn't have know integrity and hard work if it had slapped him across his drug-addled face, not to mention the utter failure of everything he tried to do in his short presidency).

And while GWB is just about the furthest thing from a conservative Republican as has ever been elected, I thank goodness neither of his opponents won. I just wish that the country had been given a better choice than him and his free-spending ways.

As for abortion - get used to it. Roe v Wade will never be legislated out of existence. It was a stupid decision in the first place, especially considering the court should have NEVER even heard the case, and should have been left to the states as the Constitution very clearly stipulates.

As for BHO, I can only HOPE that people are not going to continue this overwhelming fawning over a man who has not uttered one single new idea since going on the campaign trail. He has introduced legislation that would have the US giving nearly a trillion (yes that it a TRILLION) dollars o foreign aid over the UN over the next decade alone. He lists hard core communists as his most inspirational mentors in his own book - spin that. And he cannot give even remarkably realistic answers when confronted with questions about international diplomacy (just about the only job a president really has according to the Constitution).

For those of you who absolutely love the idea of something for nothing, he is definitely your man.

And while I personally loathe John McCain, he is the only viable candidate, if for no other reason than he is not Hillary or Obama. I would hate to see them elected and then put another Ginsburg or worse on the court.

I'm a recovering republican, yet I'm voting Clinton. I'm a military wife by the way.

That was a nice write up of why you voted for who you did. I don't agree with it at all, but I respect it.

It's nice to read someone who faced some of the tough choices I did at the polls this year and who made the choice for Obama like I did. I even blogged about it as well--http://crazymomcat.blogspot.com/2008/02/here-that-its-winds-of-change.html

I agree that I still don't know who I will vote for in November, but I felt good voting for Barack right now.