Kimberly Pace: Obama's Acceptance Speech and My View on the Issues

Guest blogger Kimberly Pace is Alaska's openly-LGBT delegate to the Democratic Convention in Denver. (Read her previous posts live from the Convention and an interview of her by DemConWatch.)

We arrived back in Anchorage safe and sound and in time to watch nearly 6 hours on CSPAN on the last day of the convention. I was thrilled to see some of our Alaskan delegation and was envious of their experience on this historic day. Obama's acceptance speech was positive, informative, inspiring, and electrifying. It has been a long time since I have been so moved by a presidential candidate. 

He spoke about issues that are near and dear to my heart and to those around me. These issues include, but are by no means limited to: 

1) Health - I believe that in this country, everyone regardless of income or position should be entitled to affordable health care of the highest quality.

2) Education - Better schools means better preparation for our people in this globalized economy. Also I love the idea of the exchange of college education for public service - let's make college available for everyone! 

3) Civil rights for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation - people are people and deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect. 

4) Increased funding to support our troops with adequate health care, equipment, and improved services - while we may disagree with the war, it is deplorable that many of our troops are falling between the cracks when it comes to providing their basic needs. That is tragic, and I feel that Obama will make an excellent Commander-in-Chief and will make sure that our troops are getting not only what they need but also what they deserve. 

5) Energy - I think Obama is right on the mark when he talks about the need for a shift in our energy reliance on foreign countries for our energy needs. We need to develop alternative energy sources such as geothermal, wind, solar, biofuels etc., not spend Gazillions (technical term there) drilling for oil (especially off-shore) when we could spend a fraction of that amount and build new industries that will create millions of Green Collar jobs. 

There were many other issues but those were the ones that leapt out to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Convention. It was the chance of a lifetime and I am so honored that I was chosen. It was AWESOME!