Obama or McCain: You decide

June 3, 2008—I got the opportunity to attend the presumptive Democratic Nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s victory speech at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

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About 17,000 people witnessed this historic moment with the first black American to win a major political party endorsement.

“This is the greatest moment of my life,” excitedly said Hlee Vang, an Obama supporter.

Obama has very convincing words yet with a lot of promises.

For the most part, many of us are relieved that the bruising Democratic presidential race between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is finally off the air.

Clinton suspended her bid to the White House on June 7 and has endorsed Obama.

The presumptive Republican Nominee Sen. John McCain has long waited to put his boxing gloves on to battle whoever wins.

Now the contest is clear. Obama and McCain will square off as our next president.

Perhaps this is the first-time in America’s presidential election that we will have butterflies to the stomach to whom we elect. (I had butterflies to the stomach when Bush was elected in 2004, again).

Race and age could be the deciding factors. McCain is white, but his 71-year-old. Obama is black-and-white (his mother is white), and only 46.

McCain is experienced. Obama is getting there. If a candidate is elected based on his resume, McCain is most eligible. Obama has been a community organizer from the Chicago streets and built his presidential candidacy from his childhood dream.

McCain has been in the public service most of his life. Obama is only a one-term US Senator from Illinois.

McCain represents the robust face of the old Congress. Obama is new to Congress.

Obama inspires young voters. This year’s primary, the Democratic Party had record turnout votes.

McCain’s speeches are boring to the ear. Obama lights up crowds.

These are just few nitty-gritty matters that some people may based their votes on.

The odds of winning are against both candidates and the stakes are high.

We have colossal problems to solve that are facing us as a powerful nation.

We are looking for more than speeches and promises. As much as we need hope and change, we need real solutions.

We need a president who will get the job done, clean up President Bush’s mess. His approval rating is averaged at an all-time low with 29 percent.

We know the war in Iraq is chewing trillion of our tax dollars. We should have never been there at the first place.

We need to be a world leader who will care about solving global warming; not a world leader in consumption as we always had in the past.

We need to revamp our failing education system. We can’t afford ‘the child left behind act’ because India and China produce twice the number of engineers per year than compared to America.

Our employment rate is at an all-time high with 5.5 percent; and each day thousands of jobs are headed oversea. Each day some US companies are being shut down.

Our economy is eroding; and it has taken over as the most important issue than the war in Iraq.

The world has a negative reaction about Americans. Canadians still claim as being more kind and loving than Americans.

Our national debt is $9 trillion.

Our healthcare system has not been fixed (or there was never universal healthcare from the start).

We need a president who will listen to us, restore our prosperity.

We need energy independency. Several of our automobile maker plants in Minnesota are expected to be close down because of high fuel costs. And we can’t afford to drive anymore because we can’t afford $4 at the pump.

We are becoming stressful Americans than before.

Many have been forced out of their homes because they can’t make their monthly mortgages.

We need someone to repair America.

Can Obama or McCain end these chaos? We will need specifics from each candidate.

McCain has stated that he will stay another 100 years of the war in Iraq. Obama needs to layout the specs of his plans to bringing universal healthcare.

We need answers and soon, because America may be headed into a state of paralyze.

Also at the end, we will need a president who will bring us together for the common goods rather than tear us apart.

Noah Vang can be reached at vangminnesota@gmail.com.