By Amanda Toth
Outlook Editor

February 10, 2007 was the date on which I decided for whom I’d be voting in the 2008 presidential primary. It was the day that I watched a live feed of Illinois Senator Barack Obama announce his candidacy at Springfield’s Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech. When he said the words “my candidacy for President of the United States,” I got chills.

Some people may call this obsessive, but it is exactly this kind of spirit that makes Obama the best candidate for president. He is inspiring college students to get involved like Elvis inspired teenaged girls to faint and cry.

He can count the Facebook generation among his many supporters.

In a January 18 Facebook/ABC News poll, 14% of participants said they did not want Obama to be president, in contrast of the 72% that voted for Senator Hillary Clinton. In a January 31 poll, 67% of participants said they thought Obama would be a “very good” or “good” president.

In a mock election conducted by the Election 08 Facebook application, Obama won 28% of the votes, a far cry from runner-up Clinton’s 9%. The highest vote-winning Republican was Ron Paul with 9%.

Some people feel he isn’t experienced enough to lead this country. He has spent time at the local level, so he knows what low-income families need. He will think of these people when creating tax breaks, not the rich. Less time spent on the national level means that he has had less time to become corrupt, jaded, cynical.

Others may be foolish enough to bring up the point that his last name is one letter away from “Osama.” I would like to remind these people that Bush is one letter away from “bust,” which is pretty much what his entire presidency has been.

To the idiot that makes a big deal out of Obama’s middle name being Hussein, I would like to say, “Is that the best you’ve got?”

After the worst president in history, we need a president who can draw upon the legacy of the best president in history. We need a president who can implement New Deal-esque  programs to revive the economy and help the environment. The only problem is that the Republicans foolishly believe there is nothing wrong with the environment. They could not be more out of touch with reality.

After a particularly divisive president and two contentious elections, we need a leader who can unite the United States.

The 2004 election divided the nation into red states, those that were Republican-leaning, and blue states, which had a tendency to support the Democrats.

Obama does not see red states and blue states. He sees the United States.

After the outrageous Iraq fiasco, the United States faces credibility issues. How can we repair these issues if we can’t get along?

In the words of another president from Illinois, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”