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“They’ll just shoot him down, anyway.” This seems to be a theme amongst people I know in Reno, NV who are undecided on Obama and I was struck that this theme was echoed in this article as being curious but consistent across the country. The last time this was brought up as a reason to not vote for him, I responded that his safety is a risk he’s taking and it isn’t our responsibility to save him by not voting for him. While I was confused by this conversation, I’m beginning to understand that some people are afraid to vote for him, because they believe his victory would be a death sentence. Not because he’s black (although I’m sure there are those who wish him harm for his race), but perhaps because he inspires the dream of real change and it seems we, as a nation, don’t truly believe in the possibility of change. We believe on a deep level that those who push for real change are killed, like the Kennedys, like Martin Luther King Jr. Maybe we are afraid to elect and embrace a president who does inspire us and dares us to work for real change. Maybe we’re a country who is afraid to truly believe, because the pain of our loss is still too tremendous to try again.
