I am voting for Barack Obama

Wow, what a great acceptance speech by Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention (DNC)! Before the speech, I had doubt. Now I am completely on board. No more cynicism. Let's get Obama elected the President of United States of America!

It was fitting that yesterday marks the 45-year anniversary of MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech. The very fact that a black man is nominated to be the presidential candidate of a major political party is a testimony to how far this country has progressed. There is no turning back. For those who are still hanging on to the old way of politics, your days are coming to an end!

In his speech, Obama talked about his humble beginnings, and the values he was taught with by his mother and grandparents. He admitted that his father did not have much influence on him. He was more shaped by "his (father's ) absence".

He also laid out his policies, item-by-item, in a way that ordinary people can understand. For example, to counter McCain's accusation that he is going to raise taxes on the middle-class, he said he is going to cut taxes on 95% of the families.

But most importantly, at least to me, he addressed some of the issues that democrats have been commonly criticized for. The republicans have long criticized that democrats don't have a set of clear principles, and they follow the polls to please people in order to get elected. Yesterday, Barack Obama answered those criticisms very eloquently.

He contrasted the republican principles vs. his democratic principles. The republicans talk about "Ownership Society". But in reality it means "you are on your own". But democrats believe we have "mutual responsibilities" to each other. As Obama puts it: "We are our brothers' keepers, and our sisters' keepers."

I thought this is a great comparison, and is exactly what I had hoped the democrats would say for a long time. The republicans often claim moral superiority over the democrats. But where is the morality to favor big businesses and refuse to raise the minimum wage for the low-income workers? (I believe in America, if you choose to work, you ought to be able to earn a living wage! That is the moral responsibility of the entire society to the less fortunate segment of our community). Where is the morality to oppose abortion while turn a blind eye to the deaths and destruction in some inner city America? The republican principles have so many contradictions to bordering hypocrisy.

Obama also talked about his belief in what the appropriate government's roles in our lives. Here again, republican believes are full of contradictions. It has become a cliche to the republicans that government does not work, and the less government regulation the better. Yet they want you all to vote for them so they can occupy the government positions to prove that government indeed does not work. The Bush Administration really proved that its government does not work: from the mis-management of the Iraq War, to No-Child-Left-Behind, to Hurricane Katrina fiasco.

If the republicans want the government out of our lives, why do they insist on regulating people's morality? I am a Christian, and I have a set of values that I believe will benefit everyone. But I can't impose my values to others, and let alone having the government to impose my values to everyone in the country. Yes, we disagree on many issues, but we should always seek common ground, not to be bogged down by our disagreements. That was what Obama preached last night. He touched on a few very controversial issues (abortion, gay marriage, and gun control) and illustrated where we may find common grounds.

Most importantly, unlike the republicans who cynically claim that government simply does not work (so they should outsource critical government functions to the private businesses run by their cronies), we democrats believe government plays a critical role in some of the functions of the society, as clearly laid out in the US constitution, such as providing common defense (not only defending foreign threats, but also environmental threats). Obama also gave other examples of where the government can make a difference: education, promoting scientific advancements and technological innovations. Unlike the cynical republicans, we democrats believe "yes we can". Yes, we can, under the right leadership! It was not the government that failed us. It was the lack of leadership in the past eight years that has failed us!

Obama also showed that he is a new breed of democrats, not exactly in the mold of traditional so called "liberals". He talked about "personal responsibilities", in the same breath of "mutual responsibilities". He wants to "cut wasteful government spending", not exactly the kind of "big government liberal" the republicans make out of him. I call this new brand of democrats "progressive". And I am so happy to see them becoming more prominent in the democratic leadership.

Go Obama!