Why I’m Voting for Barack Obama

Here is the script I wrote for my video, but be aware that I ad libbed a few extra lines in the video:

Why am I voting for Barack Obama? There are many reasons, so let me break down just a few.

I’m voting for Barack Obama because of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Sure, it’s not a perfect plan, but it has literally saved lives. Romney wants to repeal it “on day one,” which throws us all back at the mercy of the greedy insurance companies who would again be allowed to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and revoke coverage from people who cost them too much money even though they’ve been dutifully paying their premiums. I have a few pre-existing conditions myself, like depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome, and autism. Yeah, I think my Asperger’s Syndrome would be considered a pre-existing condition, too. With Obamacare, I don’t have to worry about being denied insurance coverage if my husband ever loses his job and his employer-sponsored health care plan.

I’m voting for Barack Obama because of his support of women’s issues. He supports equal pay for equal work. He supports a woman’s right to choose and condemns any attempt for government to stand in the way of that right. And with the Affordable Care Act, he supports access to affordable birth control for women at all income levels.

Birth control is more than just a women’s issue. It’s an economic issue and a social equality issue. Romney’s support for radical personhood legislation would make my IUD illegal. I’m a married woman with one child, and for personal reasons I don’t want to get into here, I know that I should not get pregnant again. The whole “slut shaming” thing Republicans have tried doing in their defense of discriminating against women concerning birth control coverage doesn’t apply to me – unless they’re suggesting I stop sleeping with my husband until menopause when family finances determine I can’t afford out of pocket birth control costs. Because honey, there are a lot of married women – and their husbands – who take issue with that.

Birth control is the only type of prescription drug that’s been singled out for exclusion by insurance companies on such a wide scale. The argument goes that people don’t want their tax dollars or their insurance premiums to pay for women to have sex. I don’t see a single male politician out there calling for insurance companies to deny coverage for Viagra and other ED drugs. At least hormonal birth control pills can be used to treat medical conditions like PCOS and PMDD. Drugs like Viagra are not medically necessary at all. When insurance covers ED drugs, we’re all paying for men to have sex. The outcry against birth control is specifically discriminatory to women. And by the way, if a woman can’t afford to pay for her birth control pills, what makes you think she can afford a baby? It costs how many thousands of dollars to raise a child from birth to age 18 now?

But I digress.

I’m voting for Barack Obama because he supports marriage equality. Romney wants to amend the Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. I live in New York State, where same sex marriage is legal. What would such an amendment do to two of my friends, who are legally married and have adopted two beautiful little girls? Would their marriage be null and void? Would they lose the right to hospital visitation, to death benefits? What would happen to their girls if one of them died? Barack Obama supports same sex marriage because we are all humans, regardless of who we love. He supports REAL family values, not bigoted policies that would tear families apart.

I’m voting for Barack Obama because he is a responsible leader. He avoided the unnecessary hardships suffered after Hurricane Katrina by dispatching timely disaster relief when Hurricane Sandy hit, not delaying the federal response and exacerbating problems, the way it happened after Katrina. Romney wants to get rid of FEMA in favor of private sector disaster relief. You know, depend on people like Donald Trump to fund a costly venture that has no hope of profit when they’re willing to hold $5 million hostage from charities in a racially motivated quid pro quo offer.

I’m voting for Barack Obama because Mitt Romney is a predator. Bain Capital, which he still has a financial stake in, is responsible for buying up profitable American companies and putting thousands of employees out of work because dismantling them made more money for the shareholders. Bain Capital bought companies and forced them into bankruptcy so they wouldn’t have to pay out pensions to employees who had worked hard for 20-30 years at the same company, only to find now they have NO money for retirement, despite having done the “right thing” and worked hard all their lives. Now dependent only on Social Security income, they are now part of the “47%” that Mitt Romney so disparages. They pay no income taxes because they don’t have enough income to pay tax on… through no fault of their own.

And let’s not forget the people at Sensata. Despite Romney’s attempts to make China look like the bad guy when addressing the American people, he is profiting from Bain’s despicable decision to move Sensata jobs to China RIGHT NOW, making the employees train the Chinese workers who will be replacing them, taking down the American flag so as not to make the Chinese “uncomfortable” while they were here, then putting the American workers out of a job earlier than originally planned because they were making too much of a fuss before the election.

Romney may know how to make a lot of money for himself, but he’s done it at the expense of American workers and American businesses.  He’s done it by taking advantage of every tax loophole in the books, the ones he may or may not be closing to pay for his impossible tax plan. His wealth was built on the backs of literally tens of thousands of American workers who lost their jobs in the name of profit. And he claims he would create jobs as President? I don’t think he knows how!

I’m voting for Barack Obama for so many more reasons, but the first version of this video was over 12 minutes long, so I needed to do some trimming. I’m voting for Barack Obama because his vision of American means good things for all families, even struggling families like mine, because he actually cares about his people. On Election Day, I hope you’ll vote for Barack Obama, too. Thank you.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.