I think most anyone who knows me and is reading this blog knows of my disdain for George W. Bush and the Bush Administration. I’m a Democrat through-and-through and, obviously, did not vote for him in either 2000 or 2004. The 2000 Presidential election was the first that I was old enough to vote in. I was a junior at the University of Kentucky during the fall of 2000. I’m a worrier by nature, but mixed in for my general concern over my genetics, cell biology, German, and physics courses, I felt this over all impending feeling of doom as election day approached. Despite the relative peace and economic prosperity of the time, it seemed like most of America had turned against the Democratic party because of President Clinton’s personal actions. The “radical right”–which I despise as I consider their behavior to largely be hypocritical, selfish, and not really so muchly so in tune with the actual teachings of Jesus, had been fired up. I hoped that somehow Al Gore would prevail… I still remember exactly the steely gray sky the day that the Supreme Court declared Bush the winner. I knew that no good was going to come of it. I dreaded the next 4 years.

Fast-forwarding 4 years, by the time the Presidential election of 2004 rolled around, I was a 24-year-old, living in California and attending graduate school. Most of my 2004 revolved around studying for my qualifying exam that August and trying to work on something kind of big for my research. John Kerry had not been my initial choice for our nominee. My pick had been Gen. Wes Clark. By the time the California primary was held that March, Kerry had, basically, already wrapped everything up. Still, I stood behind him, knowing that although he wasn’t my first choice, he was still 100% better than Bush. By late July though, after hearing his speech at the convention, I was ready and set to be a foot soldier in John Kerry’s army. I feared what another 4 years of Bush would mean for my country. We were already involved in a war that seemed to be turning into my generation’s Vietnam; we didn’t seem to be going after the bad guys we really needed to be going after; and, instead of being more safe, my country was left safe. The world hated us. This is not to mention that the area of science I work in had been severely paralyzed by the ban on using federal research money for stem cell research. It broke my heart that people I know and could do so much good were being held back. That heart break was nothing though compared to when John Kerry lost the election. I had thought going in that it was impossible for us to lose, but yet we did. I felt hopeless and that things were only going to get worse. Four more years of Bush would nearly ruin this country.

I don’t have the time or the heart to list the events of the next four years in their entirety–Katrina, what happened to the economy…

In 2006, I started hearing about a young senator from Illinois by the name of Barack Obama. I remember reading an article on yahoo.com with a quote from him and thinking “someone ought to have a conversation with this man and get him to run for President.” A few months later, a petition appeared online, sponsored by the other Illinois Senator, Dick Durbin, encouraging Obama to run. I signed it.

Everyone told me I was crazy. There was no way a black man could get elected President of the United States. There was no way a first-term senator with relatively little experience could get elected. Time-and-time again people told me I was nuts. Hilary Clinton was going to be our nominee.

I continued to stand behind Obama. The more I learned and the more I heard him speak, the more inspired and sure I was that this person was the right person for our country. Our country needed him.

I spent much of the last eight years disappointed by and ashamed in this country. I was disheartened and discouraged and wondered what this place was coming to. I thought about moving to Canada or elsewhere overseas. I feared that the only place a good and honest man could still be elected President was in a universe penned by Aaron Sorkin.

Tomorrow, in a little less than 12 hours from now, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America.