Please go out and vote Tuesday! Because we do have one day and our votes can make a difference!!!
It is the night before the election, and I can hardly sleep! -It’s as if I know after tomorrow the world-or at least America will Change. I have tried not to express my political views on here, for after all this is a “photo blog.” But this election means so much to me, and I am so proud to be a part of it, I wish that I could have done more to help spread the word, but my schedule just didn’t allow it. –But I wouldn’t change any of it. I love every minute of these past few months. They have been so busy, but I have been very blessed to have been along side many amazing couples and share in one of their most important days of their lifes-their weddings. I have traveled a lot and while I loved it, I am glad to finally put the suitcase away and just be at home-while at my office.
(I have not blogged any of the recent weddings because of my travels and I have been just trying to edit them and get the full weddings available. But I will share the weddings with you all soon, so you can see the ones that you may not have been involved in.)
However, for one day I want to think about the bigger picture, the future of America. For the first time I will be a part of the process, I will vote in a presidential election! I voted for the first time in any election this year when I voted in the primaries.
Why haven’t I voted before? I have been registered for years, but when it came down to it, I never got out and voted. I guess I always felt it didn’t matter much, I am a Democrat and I live in Illinois and well everyone knows that is ALWAYS a blue state without a doubt, its called years in advance. Which always makes me feel that my vote here, no matter which way I voted wouldn’t really matter. And I often wished I lived in Iowa or some other swing state–like Florida 🙂 that just may happen.
However, this year something is different, I want to be a part of it, I want to be part of the process, and though it may not change the outcome of the state, I want the world to know that one more person believes! I heard a story today on NPR in Chicago during Talk of the Nation program, that gave me more hope that others are believing too. A 95-year-old woman, Florence Washington, from Virginia is also voting for the first time! Can you believe it? She said Obama inspired her to vote. My dad, who is in his fifties, also is supposed to vote for the first time. Although I do not talk politics too much with family, when the subject came up briefly he said it was important to him to vote so that it was one more vote and that was one more to help to historic numbers to show that more people voted for Obama than any other in history. He wanted to help write the history books.
I guess that’s really why we all vote, to have a voice, to be a part of history, to change the world, one vote at a time. As one of my mentors John H. White, a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, told us in photojournalism class, “as photographers we have the greatest job in the world, we have a front row seat to history.” Tomorrow I may not be in the front row in the Grant Park Election Night Rally for Obama, but I will be part of history as I walk into that voter booth and cast my ballot, and I have never been more proud and honored to do my part for my country.
Even as I write this blog I am moved to tears. Four years ago I was in the room, amongst the crowd of people, in Chicago as Barack Obama won the Senate election. As I photographed him and the crowd, and I listened to his heartfelt words and looked around the room at the faces of the American people, a diverse crowd, I knew that something in politics was going to change. I could just feel that there was something about him that was different, I knew that America had hope. And someday he would become president; I had no idea it would only be a few years for him to have the chance, and I am excited for the outcome. I hope that on Tuesday you all go out and cast your ballot for whatever your choice is, I hope it is informed and truthful.
Below is my choice and belief, may you each find your own and may you too find passion in the issues one way or the other, stand up for what you believe in.
I cannot believe that someone in politics could move me to tears. Barack Obama has done so many times. I am inspired in so may ways. I have included a couple videos that embody the spirit of Obama and the sense of the movement for change, the hope that he has given to all of us.
For more information on Barack Obama including the truth behind rumors, detailed information about the issues, more videos, and where to vote. Go to www.BarackObama.com
Tina Jean Photography 