BuzzFlash has the short version of why I am supporting Barack Obama:

What has his campaign shown?

• America's youth are still capable of idealism.
• Grassroots organizing is powerful when utilizing 21st century tools.
• A new kind of politics, even extolling bipartisanship, has a chance.
• A stupid war is not a war for patriots to embrace.
  

All this, in an era when the Bush policies of fear and war, and the GOP strategy of dividing by wedge issues, had shamed or simply depressed many Americans. As our tax monies poured through the leaky sieve of the Iraq war, and our national prestige plummeted, and our military slogged on with inadequate armor and an ill-defined mission, we watched in distress. Our government borrowed money from our international competitors; they reduced the domestic social safety net; our dollar's value dropped, making life for our neediest near impossible. And then came this election season.

Americans do still believe in elections, even though we've had some rocky ones, like the 2000 race decided hastily by the Supreme Court justices. But we still believe in our constitutional democracy. We need to hold onto that. The phenomenal turnout and voter registration numbers of 2008 show that we do.

Realistically, Barack Obama is just a guy. He's a politician. He has his strengths and his weak points. But he is offering change at a time when we need it, and he was willing to stick his neck out for it.

I don't know what change is actually going to be possible in the coming years, but I do know the cyclical nature of American politics point to some change starting any year now.

It's as good a time as any, I guess.