I just posted this as a comment in a group, but thought I'd make it a "regular" blog post as well, just because its something I tend to feel very strongly about.

I haven't yet been able to bring myself to actually support either Obama or Clinton. They both have good points and they both have bad ones. But I'll vote for whichever one gets the nomination because we simply CANNOT afford another 4 years of Republican rule.

I know a lot of people feel like it would be better to skip voting this year rather than having to vote for a Democrat they're not enamoured of, but keep in mind: Voting for someone like Nader or another 3rd party candidate, or, worse, NOT voting at all is, effectively, the same as voting for McCain. For a Dem to be able to have MORE total votes than McCain, we have to, at a minimum, "match" every vote McCain gets, plus one more for the win. Each vote that goes either uncast or to a third-party candidate is one vote we don't have to match a McCain vote.

So work your butts off for Obama or Clinton during the rest of the primary season to get the candidate you want as the nominee - that's crucial. But once the nominee has been chosen, please, please vote for the Dem's candidate in the general election. If we can all be on board with that, we have a chance to win, and believe me, this country will be hurting even worse that it is now if McCain gets into office.

Remember that other countries will be watching us as we vote this year - they're going to want to see if the American people support what Bush has been doing, or if we're going to repudiate him and others of his ilk. If we elect McCain, they're not going to care that it's because the wrong Dem got the nomination. All they will see is that the Americans' put someone new into power who has the same ideals, goals and - most likely - tactics that Bush did, and it will just make it that much harder for us to regain their trust when we finally DO get a decent person back in office.

If we can put a Dem in office - either one of them - then we're telling the world that no, we don't stand for what Bush has said or done and we want change - and that will give us the opportunity to start rebuilding our reputation internationally, something we very much need to do.