I took this photo of "Women for Kerry" in July this year on a trip to Annapolis, the Maryland State Capitol. It was about that time that I began to support the candidate, and I haven't changed my mind. Well, some folks did ask why I am voting for Kerry....Here it goes....

Kerry has an excellent record on environmental issues. I'm an asthmatic, and everybody in my family has been touched by cancer. Cancer has come up in a family where NOBODY had cancer before. I am one of a growing number of people who have adult onset asthma....yes, I did have pnuemonia, but the onset was also conspicuously coincidental with a time they were burning "something" at the Aberdump Proving Ground. Nobody knew what it was but the army assured us it wasn't harmful. Hmm.

The environment is not some abstract issue about trees in far off places for me. The state where I live has so many superfund sites it might as well be a toxic waste dump. Maryland has one of the largest cancer rates in the country.If left alone large corporations have not, traditionally, acted responsibly. This is an area where Big Government is just about the only thing that will stand up to Big Industry. It's not about the spotted owl or hugging a tree. Everybody needs clean air and clean water....and it's not good for the economy if legions of productive adults are felled by disabling asthma, cancer, MS, and who knows what all because Chemical Corp Unlimited is too worried about it's bottom line to care.

Kerry has spoken often in his campaign about developing alternative sources of energy lessen our dependance on foreign oil. Not only would this kind of initiative make us a stronger nation, it would create jobs and spark the "American Ingenuity" that made this country great. I believe we are a smart and innovative people....that with the encouragement, and, yes, funding, of the Federal Government the nation that produced George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates could nurture the inventor of the next big thing. The world may see Americans as fat, dumb, and lazy, but we aren't. We just need to focus.

Kerry and the Democrats have a commitment to making sure that some kind of healthcare is available to all Americans. Yes, this idea costs money in the short run, but saves money and lives in the long run. How many people are unable to hold jobs because they can't manage a chronic illness like asthma or diabetes? How many people do we lose to AIDS because they don't get a prompt diagonosis and can't benefit from the life enhancing drugs that are now available? How many children will suffer a developmental disability from a preventable childhood illness? How many will lose a grandparent, a source of, knowledge, wisdom, and stability to an early, preventable death? We are the wealthiest nation in the world. What does it say about our morals that senior citizens in this country have to break the law to get re-imported drugs from Canada in order to make it through another day, or chose between food and medicine?

I work hard every day, six days a week for much more than the minimum wage, but I cannot buy an individual health insurance policy that would cover my needed medications AT ANY COST. I'm not saying " I can't afford it". I'm saying that no insurance corporation will sell me a policy because it's not in their corporate best interest. And there are thousands of people like me! Are our lives so cheap, so worthless to "the economy" that we can simply be left behind to do the best we can? A months supply of one medication costs more than my car payment. If you have insurance through your company, than thank God for it....but, remember, you could lose that job tomorrow and be just like me the next day.

Finally, I believe that Kerry will do a better job with foreign policy than the current administration. It's a small world and it's getting smaller. America has real enemies- cowards, terrorists- who will not engage us honorably on the battlefield. The longer the U.S. remains pre-occupied with Iraq the more thinly stretched our resources are. The current administration has already spent an astronomical sum of money on a war which I believe was a war of choice, not of nessessity. We need to use our resources to make our milatary smarter, not bigger. We don't have that many true allies: we can't afford to offend the ones we have. We may not like it that we are part of a global community and have to work with other countries. It would be nice if we really could say "nobody else tells us what to do" but it's not realistic. Those days are gone forever, and to truly keep our country safe we have to be pragmatic, agile, and ever vigilant.

There's some insight into a Democrats mind. For some insight into a Republican mind, right from the horses mouth, so to speak, go visit Jeff at his site. He has presented his veiws clearly and respectfully, as I hope I have done here.

But, whatever else you do, vote for the candidate of your choice. Apathy won't solve anything.