An email to Senator Patty Murray

I wrote this email this morning to Senator Murray, who represents my state. I’m posting it here for posterity’s sake.

Dear Senator Murray,

I hope that you will endorse Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee for President. While I have been an incredibly active voter since I turned 18 ten years ago, I have never voted in a presidential primary before. It never really mattered to me who the Democratic nominee was, since I would vote for the Democratic candidate in the general election anyway. Last December, however, I made the decision to commit myself to caucusing for Barack Obama on 9 February. I am excited about this decision because I feel passionately that Senator Obama is not just the best candidate to defeat the Republican nominee this November (which I strongly feel he is) but also because I believe that he will be the President that so many of my generation have been waiting our whole lives for. I know deep in my heart that he has the ability to unite and transform our country in a way that no other can. I’ve even made a promise to myself that, if he’s elected, I will fly out to Washington D.C. to witness his inauguration in person. In my 28 years on this planet, I’ve never once been to our nation’s capitol.

Of course Senator Clinton is a great uniter as well; she can unite the Republican Party against her like no other. The mere mention of her name seems to put Republicans I’ve met into fits of rage. With all of the “baggage” associated with her from her years as First Lady, I fear that — should she become the Democratic nominee — the Republicans will eat her alive in the general election, and the only losers will be the American people. Even if she did win the general election, I really don’t think it would be with the kind of working majority we so desperately need to make progress on the many critical issues we face as a nation. We can’t just keep eking out slim victories that leave half our our citizens behind. I would love to see a woman become President (maybe someone like you! *hint hint*) but not at the expense of another four years of an America which continues to be split into “red states” and “blue states”, and we certainly can’t afford another four years of Republican governance.

Whoever the Democratic candidate is this November will get my vote, but I’ve been waiting so long to make that vote count *for* someone, rather than simply against the Republican candidate. Please endorse Senator Obama as the democratic nominee for President of the United States. You can help America seize this moment and restore the American Dream both at home and abroad. Together, we can transform America in such a way that, once again, the leaders of other countries will say “The word of the President of the United States is good enough for me.”

Thank you,

Ian Adams