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Our household voted for Obama after one of us following his campaign for two years, having a divided vote in the Primary: one Obama and one Hillary Clinton, and a mutual vote in the November 2008 General Election.

We married in a time of the national turmoil over Vietnam,voted in each election since, and we both have solidly supported Civil and Women's Rights issues to this day. This Presidential Election has been a reminder that there is still small-minded and hateful people who hide behind generations of prejudice, fear and bigotry.

It is our hope that now the "ultra-right wing" of the Republican Party will shrink from power immediately because of the devisiveness of their belief system which they sought to force upon the rest of this nation. We believe strongly in separation of church and state and that this country is not a Christian base to exploit, but rather, a free-thinking mass of humankind all who seek to better their lives and that of their families, and care for others despite differences in race, religion or regional history. As President-Elect Obama takes the reigns of government, let us move towards unity and leave religion and ideology out of politics as we rebuild the broken economy and respect for America once again in the world.

As children of southern parents, our household is proud that a man of color has risen to the highest office of the land, and brings with him a new attitude of inclusion for all people,and striving to put an intorant history behind us, especially for the sake of our young people, who will not carry the ugly and hateful past into this nation's future.

The only sad note in the outcome of some state results is that there are still those who seek to deny civil rights to gay and lesbian partners by denying them the right to marry and have the necessary legal protections and advantages that we straight citizens take for granted, and that these voters do so mostly on the grounds of religious belief, rather than by respecting their human sisters and brothers needs.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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