The Disenfranchised Voter

dis-en-fran-chised (Adj.) - deprived of the right to citizenship; especially the right to vote.

On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson (1824 - 1904) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, became the first African-American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.He was born in Metuchen, New Jersey, to parents that had been slaves owned by the Mundy family.He was a school custodian in Perth Amboy. Active in the Republican Party, he became that the city's first African-American to hold elected office, on the Middlesex County Commission. He was also the city's first 'colored' person to serve on a jury. On August 31st, 1920, five days after the 19th amendment was signed into law, Hannibal, Missouri, held a special election to fill the seat of an alderman who had resigned. At 7 a.m., despite pouring rain, Mrs. Marie Ruoff Byrum, wife of Morris Byrum and daughter-in-law of Democratic committeeman Lacy Byrum, cast her ballot in the first ward. She thus became the first woman to vote in the state of Missouri and the first woman to vote in the United States under the 19th, or Suffrage, Amendment.
At 7:01 a.m. in the second ward of Hannibal, Mrs. Walker Harrison cast the second known vote by a woman under the 19th amendment.

Having the facts of the above, I am saddened about what is going on in America today. Early voting numbers in this years election are astonishing. The Dallas Morning News reports that "We have already surpassed the total early-voting numbers for both the 1996 and 2000 elections," said Scott Haywood, spokesman for Texas Secretary of State. Both parties are seeing much higher turnout than four years ago – but it's the numbers in the Democratic primary that are turning heads. In Dallas County, for instance, 49,485 people had voted in the Democratic primary by Sunday evening – nearly 10 times as many as at a similar point four years ago. About 14,000 had voted in the Republican primary in Dallas County.

Don't get me wrong here folks, I am tickled to death that people are getting active and getting out to cast their vote. Their citizen given right to vote. What bothers me are the sheer numbers of the African-American voters that are coming out in support of Obama. Again, don't get me wrong here, I do think this great nation has come along way. Far enough that I DO think that we are ready for our first African-American President. I just don't think that person should be Obama. With the likes of Oprah, Rev. Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, and even Louis Farrakhan, how can an African-American NOT support Obama? It seems to be the "cool" thing to do these days. Not just by African-Americans, but white Americans alike are on his choo-choo train of "change". What is this "change" that he speaks of? Are people doing their homework on him and his beliefs? Or, are they just taking the word of the media and the above mentioned celebrities?
Has anybody questioned his lack of voting while being a Senator? When he DOES vote, he is so far to the left it ain't even funny. Now, I will admit, Senator McCain is one of the most boring persons to watch. And as far as Hillary, well, what more can you say? She just gets on your nerves and under your skin. She's an angry woman that thrives on power. So you take the boring old man and the angry, power hungry woman out of the equation, and you are left with what APPEARS to be a very positive, up beat, has all of our best interest at heart, Obama. This is what the media is projecting, this is what the media wants you to see.

The Democratic race is very tight. So tight in fact, I think there will be some legalities get involved before it is all said and done. Florida comes to mind. With that said, let's just say that Obama does not get the Democratic nomination. Will you see the same amount of record turn out at the polls? Will you see the African-American rallies on every news station in America? If Hillary is on the ticket come November, what will all of these people that have never cast a vote in their lives before except to come out of their houses in support of Obama do? Will they prove to America that this in fact WAS a racial Presidential race, or will they support the Democratic nomination? Will they still have those warm fuzzies about wanting to be a part of history by electing the first African-American President and help vote in the first Woman President? Let me throw this at you, what if in November, it is McCain vs. Obama. Not that I think that this would happen, but "what if" McCain chooses Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice as his running mate? Not only would you have the first African-American running, Obama, (with a real good chance) for President of the United States of America, you would have the first African-American woman, Rice, on a ticket. And, should something happen to McCain, she could very well be our first woman President. A triple play. Our first woman President. Our first African-American President. Our first African-American woman president.

If this possibility presents itself in November, do you actually think that all of the Obama supporters would stick with Obama or do you have a feeling that some would cross over party lines? I personally think you would see some folks jump off of the Obama choo-choo and Condoleezza would have some new found friends.

I'm all about having a dream. I'm all about chasing your dreams and having them come true with hard work and integrity. What I am not all about, is having a man go from city to city preaching change while all along, not being able to support his change. Not being able to give specifics on "how" he would make these changes. Just like I feel Hillary is the wrong woman to be our first woman President, I feel Obama is the wrong choice for our first African-American President. Should either of them get elected, the women of the United States will be set back. As will the African-American be set back should Obama get elected. Americans will see the mistakes that they are sure to make and it will take a very long time before you see another woman or African-American elected, much less in a primary.

In closing, I really hope that I am wrong in my beliefs as to why the Obama choo-choo is so full. But I don't think I am. It is what it is. I also wish that all Americans that will be getting out and voting in this election, will just do his/her homework prior to pulling that lever. Our Nations future is riding on it. There are many other ways to voice your opinion other than just by one's skin color or gender. Getting active in your community is step one. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is a prime example of racial politics gone bad. Let's not forget how divided we were and still are when it comes to O.J. Simpson. To some, that was getting back at America and the judicial system. To others, it was pure, cold blooded murder.