Dear Iowa (CC: America): A plea for change

Dear Iowa (And America),

I am sitting here on my computer in thinking of you. It may sound ridiculous because I'm only 14 but I care more about you and everything you do than anything else in the world. You are not an average state but I can't change who you are and that's why you're so important to me. You see, you have a very important decision to make by January 3rd about a very special someone. I can beg with you and plead with you but in the end it's up to you. You are getting tremendous pressure from all sides but let me just make a plea to you to pick the right special someone. I am talking of course about the next President of the United States.


Give me a chance.

I can't vote this election, I don't even live in you're state, I have no real voice in the process but I still want to have a chance at life. You have a choice. Won't you let me and my generation at least try to make this world a better place? Or will you send us all of to die in wars that have no cause. Will you at least try to change you're ways so we can have air to breath and water to drink? Will you at least make sure we have a world without nuclear winter because "leaders" before us didn't even have the courage to talk to each other? Will you at least make sure everyone of us can have a decent shot at life? Maybe it's too much to ask but I'm begging you, pleading you, I'm down on my knees asking that you put how long you've known a particular candidate aside and vote for someone that will give me and my voiceless generation a chance?

I'll admit it, any of you're choices will probably at least start to fix the problems we face. But we need something more then that, we need a real leader. He may not be perfect but I believe that leader is Barack Obama. I have no voice in the process you have set up. Even if I lived in you're state I wouldn't. But yet 100,00 or so of you will likely decided the fate of the other 300 million of us. And the all of us children that have no voice. As one of those others with no voice I beg that you at least hear my case.

Why do I think that Barack Obama can solve those problems and give me a chance and give us a chance? Because he cares about people. He's spent a lifetime fighting for them and he's spent a political career leading on issues that effect them. I gave you some of the things I'm worried about above. Let me at least try to explain why I think those issues should matter to you as you decide the future of our country.

Democracy:
I know I didn't talk about this above but I don't think we can do anything until we make our democracy more, well, democratic. Our nation was founded on the ideal that everyone is created equal and they should all have a equal say in our democracy. But how is everyone equal when powerful corporate lobbyists have far more influence then ordinary people? How is everyone voice heard when only the wealthy can afford $2,300 checks and get access to the politicians. How is everyone equal if we have taxation without representation under our very own eyes, something our founding fathers railed against? How can everyone be part of the process when committing a small crime in you're youth will bar you for voting for the rest of you're life? How is you're voice being heard when you only vote for the lesser of two evils out of fear for the worse. How is everyone getting a equal say when only rich Caucasian males control our media, the very heart of democracy?

There's only one answer. Not every ones voice is being heard. If everyone was voting then none of these idiots would be in power. And we aren't going to get rid of them for good until we have true democracy.

Barack Obama was one of the most important people in getting the strongest ethics reform in our nations history passed, he has been a leader on public financing of elections, he has been a leader in trying to get representation for DC, he has been a leader in restoring ex-felons right to vote, he is the only major Democrat to support Instant Runoff Voting, he has been a leader in reforming media and promoting diversity in media, in short Barack Obama has put on the issues of democracy at the forefront of his work. After all, one of his first jobs was leading a voter registration campaign that registered over 100,000 voters. Once we restore democracy, once we end the culture of corruption we will be able to get real things done on the issues. We need to fundamentally change the system if we want to at least have a honest discussion on the issues driven by Big American people not Big Media. Who can argue against democracy?

Global Warming:
Maybe all of the candidates have similar plans, maybe Obama has the weakest, maybe his has the strongest. But do you know what? Barack Obama actually talks about global warming to people on the campaign trail. He gets it. And do you know what? We need a president who gets it. That's my single biggest fear of a Republican president. We don't have time to have another president who doesn't get it. America gets it, the people want our leaders to Step it up! Barack Obama has heard. He's a co-sponsor of the strongest climate bill in congress, he has received an awards from the League of Conservation Voters for his work on the environment. This isn't just another political issue, this is a matter of life or death. Climate change would cause more tension and possibly lead to wars in unstable parts of the world, war creates instability which causes poverty. People die because of poverty. Enough of my brothers and sisters are dying because of poverty. Why do with have to make it worse? And guess what else we get in the bargain? Polluted air, disease, economic disaster and much much more. Sound fun? Not to me. Inaction is going to hit me, it's going to hit you're kids, if there is a world left it will hit my kids. We can turn the trend around and at least avoid the worst of climate change, or we can have a polluted, impoverished, diseased world. Take you're pick.

Nuclear Proliferation:
One of the first bill's Barack Obama passed was to deal with nuclear proliferation. The Bush Administration has allowed country's around the world to acquire nuclear weapons, he's allowed them to be lose and unprotected. And now hardliners like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad want nukes. And some candidates won't even talk with them. It may be good politics (I don't even think it is) but this is a serious issue we are talking about. We are talking about still having a world, we are talking about having the courage like JFK to talk to our enemies. It's common sense, even war criminals like Henry Kissinger want to eliminate nuclear weapons. Some candidates are essentially to the right of a war criminal on foreign policy. It's ridiculous. Joe Biden is the only other candidate who gets it at all but his views on other issues are not so good.

Iraq:
I love Dennis Kucinich but he is not running a real campaign. That leaves Barack Obama as the only candidate to oppose the war from the start. I'm glad John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden oppose the war but do you know what? It doesn't matter. They've sent millions of people to death. Millions, how can these people live with themselves? How can they honestly say that after making such a mistake they are ready to lead this nation? What have we gotten for those millions blown to bits? A unstable war that has run up our debt to record levels and do you know who's going to pay the money for that? Me, you're kids, you're grand kids. But do you know what? I'd pay twice as much if I could make those people live again.

Poverty:
John Edwards and Barack Obama are basically the only two candidates who talk about poverty. In fact I don't think anyone else has even released a plan to deal with poverty. There plan's are about the same but there is a difference to me. Barack Obama worked as a community organizer trying to lift people out of poverty. He has been on the ground, he has lived with broken, impoverished communities, he understands there problems. I in no why am questioning John Edwards devotion to ending poverty, in fact it's probably the one thing I admire most about him but Barack Obama actually has been there working to end poverty. We can end poverty or at least reduce it, and how can we not? How can we honestly look the other way and not even give millions of fellow Americans a chance?

There are so many issues I can't possibly cover them all. But I hope I got some kind of point across, Barack Obama is running because of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr called "The fierce urgency of now" and for me and my generation there were never truer words spoken. I can't make you vote one way or another but can I ask you to at least think about the voiceless youth when you head to caucus on January 3rd? Think of the trillions of dollars that we will have to pay because of bad judgment on the Iraq war. Think of the millions of dead humans because of of political calculation. Think of the billions of people around the world that don't even have a chance at life. Think about the billions of people that would have to life with polluted air and disease.

I can't force you to do anything but when you trudge through the snow on January 3rd at least seriously consider heading over to the group with Obama gear on. Millions of us around America have dropped our life's and everything else to make sure Barack Obama is the next President of the United States but in the end it's you're choice.

Sincerely Yours,