OBAMA!!

I might as well admit it now - I'm a strong Barack Obama supporter. He lines up with me on key issues, he's got a hopeful view of the future, and it doesn't hurt that he's from Illinois. (And he's a lawyer!)

Last night he won a sound victory - 55% to Hillary at 27% - in South Carolina. Though he certainly picked up most of the African-American vote, news stories are now reporting that his support stretches across demographic lines.

Of course, the Clintons have been at him in the past few months - my favorite one was a criticism of Obama's representation of a Chicago "slum lord." To that I iterate something we learned in class the other day: everybody deserves legal representation, and a lawyer's association with a client by no means indicates an endorsement of the client's beliefs or lifestyle. After all, murderers and Nazis got adequate representation, too, and that doesn't mean the lawyers implicitly supported the Holocaust. And it also doesn't mean you laud your soulless corporate clients, either, Hillary, so back off.

I think the most frustrating critique of Obama that has been said is that he is not really "black." To that I say that he still faced the daily prejudices that every other black American faces - nobody stopped to ask him, "are your parents from America or Africa?" Prejudice in America is skin-deep, and Obama overcame many hurdles to get where he is today.

The thing I am happiest about in this entire election is that there is finally a candidate that I not only like, but actually truly am excited about the possibility of him becoming president. So is Caroline Kennedy, as she indicated when she compared him to her father, John F. Kennedy.

I'll leave off with some quotes from the man himself. (I love this man.)

"I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war."

"I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from marrying."

"No one is pro-abortion."

"I'm so overexposed, I'm making Paris Hilton look like a recluse."

"We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent."

"We're not going to baby sit a civil war."

"You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt."

"My first job is to say thank you to those who voted me. Those who didn't, I'm going to get your vote next time."