A little while ago I said that my vote in November would be less of one for Kerry, and more of one against Bush. I felt kind of guilty about that, because it felt false. I didn't like the idea of voting for someone just to not vote for someone else. But after last night's speech, I think I have changed my mind. Look at me! Wavering on the issues. Just like John Kerry! People really do change their minds.

For me, that was always the weakest argument against Kerry. That he changes his mind a lot. Who doesn't? I'd rather have a president who can admit that maybe he made a mistake and it's time to rethink things, rather than have one who insists on pretending nothing is wrong, and that if something per chance does go wrong, it's an isolated incident.

Anyway, Kerry last night was awesome. I was shocked at how effective his speech was. I was actually excited about it at points. Not, "Hey I've got a boner!" excited, but "Hey, he is actually starting to look like someone who can be a president. That's exciting! Now, where did I put my boner?"

I love saying boner.

I did think he went to the "I was in Vietnam" well a time too many, he spit a couple of times, and I'm pretty sure he said something about kids in Harlem getting asthma because of "hair pollution", but this is all petty crap. It was a good speech. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that thing he said about Hussein buying uranium from Africa was... oh.

And I know that it's just that. A speech. He made promises he'll break. He said he wouldn't do things he will probably do. But hey. That's politics, bitch. And I'm just going on what I saw. I have to trust that. I liked him. He was good. He seemed sincere. What more can I tell you? Up until now, all I've had his goofy ass pictures of the man, but now I finally feel confident about voting for him. After it was over, I was thinking of all of the other candidates and what their speeches would have been like. I can't imagine anyone would have been half as good.

The one positive thing I can say about Bush over the last three years is that he has made more people take an interest in politics. So thank you, Mr. President, for your misguided views. It's nice to have something to care about.

On a side note, are all the good words gone? One of the best lines in the speech last night was the one from Abraham Lincoln (for those who don't know, he was a guy who used to live that was nice to black people), where he said, "I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side." A nice little jab at Bush's "Jesus made me do it" policies. But it's tough to find new phrases and bits of speeches that are going to last. As a communist I work with pointed out, the best line was probably the "And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families." I'm not sure if they will replay that one much for future generations.

Anyway, this will be one of the very few elections I will truly be interested in and give a crap about. Doesn't mean I'm ever going to register to vote, but I will complain my boner off.

Just kidding. I am registered. Under so many different names.