Monday, January 28, 2008

To Endorse Barak Obama for President

Kennedy, Kerry, Oprah and so many others have done it. Do I join in?

Yes I do. Why not? Perhaps the more important question is who cares? Who cares about my endorsement? I am not a citizen of the United States of America. I am a Jamaican citizen. I have nothing riding on this endorsement. I get nothing out of it. And maybe, neither does Obama. Some might argue that it's out of a desire to see a Black Man in the White house. (I wonder how I haven't seen anyone put it just that way so far A BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE- perhaps others are more tactful than I claim to be.) - But truthfully, before Barak was in the race, I supported Hillary Clinton. I thought it a forgone conclusion. And then I met Barak (albeit on my TV screen with CNN).

There is nothing and no one who could have swayed me from Bill and Hillary Clinton, whether black, blue, green or purple - unless some great and powerful someone has come along. And he has. So, people are more impressed with Oprah's endorsement and the Kennedy endorsements. I'm most impressed with mine. It comes from a deep sense of conviction in the spirit of transformation and hope embodied by this man. So I say, Barak Obama for President.

Interestingly, I am now about five minutes walk away from that elementary school in Menteng, Indonesia where he went as a boy. I know there has been some controversy about this. I don't know why. people are not exclusively defined by where they went to school. With that said, I wonder where President Bush went to school. Anyway, I am pleased to know that the Presidency of Barak Obama will be one of multicultural awareness; faith; hope and change.
Michael Holgate

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