Why I am Voting for Barack Obama for the Next President of the United States of America?

Op-Ed*

By Aurora Brito FORCV General Correspondent in New York

The shrill ringing of my cell phone roused me from my bed early this morning. At 6:30 a.m., I knew who it was before I’d even answered. Josh would have called me on Sunday, but, then, everyone that I knew was enthralled with the Super Bowl here in New York. No phone call would be forthcoming during a major game! Of course, now in the wee hours, he might still be flying high from the Giants’ major upset and choose to call.

While I am from New England, it is bittersweet to me that the Patriots lost, but, I still have to live in New York. Clearly, the Giants seemed to want the win so much more, at least that is my opinion! Quite frankly, I don’t understand football, and while I was a tomboy growing up and learned to play many sports, football was considered the “dangerous sport” by my Mom, and as a result, that was one sport we avoided. With 30 seconds left of a game in which I’ve no comprehension, it was mesmerizing to me to watch the underdogs take the field and score. Too bad for Tom Brady. For Eli Manning, there was much to prove to big bro Peyton, and it paid off. A win well earned.

This brings me to the reason for writing this article. An underdog is on the field with every intention for a major upset. Seemingly out of the blue, an unassuming and unsuspecting patriot has entered into foreign territory: the road to the white house as traveled by an African-American. Barack Obama is one audacious brother! Uppity to believe he can! That yes, we can! That’s his slogan by the way, and like an Indian mantra that lulls the mind into enlightenment, Barack Obama is transcending race and the political landscape in this campaign for the President of the United States.

Setting the phone down, I tell Josh that I will meet him within the half hour at the train station. After undergoing a warp speed morning routine, my lipstick is on, the eyes barely awake, but rimmed with liner, and my curly hair is fluffed out; I head out the door. I make it to the subway up the street to catch the early morning commuters who are heading into Manhattan to begin their work day. Josh meets me and transfers a stack of pamphlets through the gates and into my hands. I set off to the opposite side of the street at the other entrance to the train station.

I am carrying an Obama Poster and a huge Duane Reade shopping bag with my arsenal: pamphlets written in English and in Spanish in addition to fact sheets that I will hand out as flyers to passersby.

Still groggy, it takes a while to gain the confidence as I croak out: “Vote Tomorrow, Vote for Obama.” A few people dash past me, they throw cynical looks and for an instance, my hopes of success sink low. But, finally, one, two, and more people start taking the pamphlets, and they swipe their Metrocards and get to the other side of the gate onto the platform. Still, others pass by and continue to ignore me, trying not to make eye contact. I’ve been there and recall the many times I’ve done the same to peddlers on the street. I understand. Still some others say that they are voting for another candidate. I lose no confidence now. Instead, I slowly begin to participate in the democratic process of electing the next President of the United States.

We are in a historic moment in these United States. For the first time we have two strong viable Democratic Candidates who can win the nomination. The frenzy shaping this landscape is brought about by the inexplicable candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, a white female and an African-American man both jousting and vying for the White House, a house that has been unwilling to yield to others of differing persuasions and that has historically sat a white male in the Oval Office.

The intractable certainty that a Mitt Romney or a John McCain is going to travel an easy predetermined road to victory has by all indications, been turn upside down. The playing field has been leveled and the old school style of politics is not gaining traction. Even Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband, the former President, is finding this new terrain a bit tricky to maneuver. Funny what the dynamics of race and gender can generate. Good Ole Boy Bill, who “has been really good to us people of color” took a sordid page out of the Southern Politics playbook during the South Carolina primary and wiped out!

Using race baiting tricks, some of the Clinton Surrogates were too happy to slam on Obama! Folks like Andrew Young, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Robert Johnson, the former founder and CEO of Black Entertainment Television, all took turns to swipe at and knock Obama down from the pedestal that so many have put him on. Personally, watching these prominent black men, many of whom had been involved in the civil rights movement of the 60’s caused me to feel ashamed that Race and bigotry is still easy mechanisms in which to divide us as a people. It was horrific and appalling to watch some of these men, leaders all in the Black movement and by most standards successful in their own right, play the coon, the marionette and then say, as Andrew Young said, “I was just clownin’”.

While I am not at all suggesting that all black people, or brown and yellow or red folk just jump on the band wagon and vote as a monolithic block, I am saying that at the very least, get the facts, do your homework. Do not allow the pundits to tell you how to vote, much less the surrogates and mouthpieces of the candidates. Look at the candidate’s record, character and judgment and you make an informed decision. Look at what is being said and what is being done, and who is being played like a puppet and who is the master string puller? It is so easy to create distractions along the color line and pull us off center, off the victory target. Did Eli Manning do that Sunday night? No, he kept his eye on the ball and worked with his teammates, who make up a diverse group of players! And what a message the National Football League sent out by installing the first black referee in a Super Bowl, Mike Carey, who has 18 seasons as an NFL official! Hmmm. Is the NFL taking the pulse of the nation?

Bill Clinton likened Barack’s message of hope and transformational government to a fairy tale! Then, he pulled the strings on a puppet to have it quip stereotypical and caustic comments in the efforts to taint a relatively pristine Barack as having been a former low-life running the streets of Chicago. The same stereotypical portrait that is too often displayed in the media! What some people will do who desperately want to win at any cost. Well, this strategy back fired big time. The old style politics doesn’t appear to be gaining momentum, but keep trying they will. I expect the road ahead will get muddier.

In any event, South Carolinians were not fooled, but rather offended and their voting trampled the old Southern style playbook out onto the field, calling it out of bounds! Bill Clinton has since been rammed in and benched! His strategies are not making any play. Hillary, finally, is on her own to be her own woman. To find her “own voice” as she has said. Is it really her own, I wonder?

However, Barack Obama is the man! He is my Man! Like many women, I was confused and anxious about my vote. I thought I’d be working on Hillary’s campaign just because it seemed the obvious choice. The choice is not so black and white anymore! Pun intended! It has transcended.
Barack Obama has transcended the racial politics of this race and as a result gender. Someday, race and gender will really not figure in how one makes decisions in electing the next President. Right now, it still matters.

Barack Obama is not a polarizing figure to me. He is hitting all the right notes and has demonstrated his character and judgment in his work on the prestigious Harvard Law Review, as a young lawyer, teaching Constitutional Law, and working in communities of color, bettering the lives of those in the inner cities and those of poor whites who continue to lose job after job to outsourcing. I’d say he is a man of the people. Been there, done that! He is getting my vote.

Yes, but what about experience. His lack of experience and substance on the topics?
Well, let me say this: If you are a person of color in the United States, and if you have ever been up for a job, you know that your resume is looked upon with more scrutiny and judged more harshly. Don’t believe me? I am a Career Coach who is a former executive recruiter. I can tell you lots of stories, but that’s another article. This notion of “lack of experience” and “qualifications” is often leveled at minority candidates because too often, we have not had the luxury to follow similar trajectories as that of our white counterparts. However, we have indeed garnered experience, sometimes real world experience wrought the hard way, in the trenches, like finding work in communities of color. While Hillary went to work for a Corporate Law firm, Barack found employment in the inner city economic development programs. He said it was by choice, but, sometimes, that is not often the case. Discrimination still exists and if anyone wants experience, they will have to get it where they are welcomed and often most needed. Barack has proven himself and if you check out his website,

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You will learn more about his strengths, his ideas, and his suggestions to getting us out of the Iraq war, a war incidentally, that he did not vote for. He would rather choose diplomacy and face to face negotiations. I don’t think that is unrealistic nor a fair tale. In the end, we are all still people, one humanity occupying various segments of the globe. We still want to be heard, to be understood, to be listened to and treated with respect.

You will learn much more about just how experienced he really is. Sometimes, those without preconceived notions have the greater chance in leading. But, the real reason that I am voting for Barack is just because his time is now. In this moment in our history, in our existence, this man is on this earth taking on what some have thought to be an insurmountable endeavor and he is surpassing all lowered expectations. He is a multi-ethnic or multi-racial person. Whatever moniker you want to apply is probably been implied already. The Television pundits still haven’t gotten the moniker down yet, but, we all agree that Barack is a man of a rich diverse background. He is reflecting what Martin Luther King dreamed about 45 years ago: White little children and black little children together…Barack is borne out of that dream, the “fairy tale” shunned by Bill Clinton, has come true.

Barack is a man that can restore a sense of dignity and integrity to the United States’ standing on the world stage. He can break bread with people of diverse countries and bring them together in diplomatic talks. He is a man of great promise. He is reflecting the Browning of America, a phenomenon that was predicted back in the early 1990s. Not quite a baby boomer and not a generation X, he is right there in the middle. Besides his plans and ideas, Barack Obama is a transformational candidate that empowers all of us, regardless of color, ethnic background, income level, or gender. He seeks our partnership to stand in our own greatness. His message of hope and inspiration is what is so desperately needed right now. It is a philosophy I aspire to and one that I employ as a Career and Life Coach in the small microcosm that is my work with my clients. Please, I urge you to look closely at this man, to look at how he lives, how he cares for his children, how he loves and respects his wife, his life’s partner. They are a model of what is possible.

Yes, it could be Hillary for some voters, but, she is still part of the old guard and style of politics. Nothing wrong with that, and if Barack weren’t running, I’d take a closer look at her. However, Hillary is not going to be the dynamic candidate that can spur a movement, ignite youth to take part in changing the political process, send a signal to the world that a new dawn has come. She is a hard worker, and as she described her self, a “work horse.” That is to be respected. It is Barack who with his oratorical skills like Martin, his passion for uniting a peoples in the same vein as John F. Kennedy, and his own personal dignity, respect for his fellow man and real world solutions that gets my vote. I hope he gets your vote. Vote Tuesday. February 5th 2008. The polls will be open from 6am to 9pm across the country in the primary states. Massachusetts is one of them as is Connecticut. Many Cape Verdeans are on the coastal areas of the West and East Coasts. We can make a difference. Please, help to make history and vote for Barack, a man of the people, a true citizen of a global world. This is one underdog who wants to win, and bring about new Change and as the Giants demonstrated in this Sunday’s Super bowl, underdogs can win. Let’s win!

* Disclamer: The content of the op-ed (opposite-editorial) above represents Aurora Brito's personal opinions and views only. It is not FORCV's official endorsement of any candidates as we have not made such decision yet.