yay/nay.

Words cannot even begin to describe the elation and joy I felt last night when, much to my surprise, after the announcement of Virginia's electoral votes in Obama's name, Barack Obama was, indeed, our new president. The results came in so quickly and the projection of his election came hours before I expected, so the shock was intense. Yet, nothing beat standing in the ballroom at the Hilton Hotel with a couple hundred fellow Democrats jumping and shouting with joy. We were finally safe. My generation no longer needs to worry about finding success in this broken-down economy. My hopes of possibly teaching someday no longer seem unattainable or a waste of time. My tax dollars will not spend an eternity paying for a useless war in Iraq that has unproductively taken so many lives. Things have looked good for Obama for awhile now, but watching his number of his electoral votes grow and then officially winning by a landslide sparked tears in my eyes, butterflies in my stomach, and happiness in my whole entire body. I will never forget for the rest of my life not only the essence of last night, but of the exact moment when I realized Obama was officially going to be my president.

While I was unbelievably proud to be a resident of both the state that started the flow of Obama's electoral vote winnings and the country that finally saw what we needed in Obama, I regret to say that I am disappointed in the state in which I was born and raised. I have always had a ridiculous amount of California pride but with what looks to be the passing of Prop 8, I am hurt and confused by the people of what I consider to be one of the greatest states in the nation. When our supreme court opted to overturn the ban on gay marriage months ago, I KNEW that we would set a standard for the rest of country and that things would slowly but surely look up. Now it looks as if what I KNEW was a load of garbage and that even a huge portion of my fellow democrats would rather preserve the tradition of marriage between a man and a woman than fight for equal rights for all. Honestly, I understand why people disagree on a lot of things, but this I just DON'T UNDERSTAND. Who cares about tradition? Our greatest achievements have been based on putting cracks in the ceiling and paving new roads and opportunities. Our greatest setbacks have been bad priorities and lack of focus on more pressing matters. Maybe people want to preserve tradition, but our time and money and focus should rely on greater things like universal healthcare and bringing home our troops. Allowing for same-sex marriage is one of the few things where if allowed, those who disagree will not be personally affected. Your marriage is not any less legitimate or less special or more overlooked if someone else's same-sex marriage is legitimized. WHO CARES. By voting for Prop 8, you are stripping people of their rights and happiness, but by voting against Prop 8, you still have all your rights and still get to have marriage, and who you marry, as an option. Come on, California, I believe in you. We're better than this.