When asked the seemingly benign question, "What does this election mean to you?" I have trouble giving an uplifting answer. I'm sure a lot of voters (53?) are able to use the words of Obama himself to respond, saying that it means "change we can believe in" or that it represents hope.

The fact that this election is historic is not lost on me. That our next president could be someone who in the not so distant American past would not have been able to vote demonstrates huge strides in seeing all men as truly created equal, in terms of race. That is an ideological victory not to be overlooked. And yet, when judging a man not by his race but by the content of his politics, there are so many other ideological issues that, if triumphant at today's polls, I cannot view as victorious. My lack of support for Obama does not mean that I do not want change; in fact, there are many things that I would like to see changed in this country very much. I want to even hold onto hope that the next president will bring these changes to the White House. But "change I can believe in" is not, quite frankly, what this election means to me.

In effort to get a more positive response to report on (and blogging ideas), I decided to ask my husband his thoughts on what this election means to him. This is, after all, the man who answered the question (posed by one of my seventh grade students) "Are you Republican or Democrat?" with a diplomatic, "I serve my country and my commander-in-chief, regardless of political party." He thoughtfully responded to my question by saying that for him the issue in this election has been one of who would do the least damage to the country. He says that the American people don't want to be at war anymore, and he can't say that he blames them - my husband has served two overseas tours, one in Iraq - but that in the process of desiring that change, he fears that we are crippling ourselves, robbing ourselves, blinding ourselves. His vote represents his desire to hold on to some of the rights that came with the founding of this country - earned prosperity, guns, individualism.

I too fear that we have blinded ourselves. America wants change, and it is clear that we are willing to overlook quite a bit in the name of that change. We are willing to overlook inexperience, radical ties, inconsistent positions, blatant media bias, unrealistic idealism, unprecedented campaign funds and spending, and the like (all issues independent of party platform positions themselves) for the Messiah, the One who says the things we want to hear. It is not unlike how people felt in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929; it was inevitable that Herbert Hoover and his party would not be welcome in the White House - although a recent History Channel program has given me the impression that history has given the man more of a bad rap than he deserves.

But there is still hope, even for Republicans like me. Obama will be faced with the reality of domestic and international issues currently challenging our nation when he takes the oath of office. He will have to adjust to the challenges, and not all of Obama's policies that I take issue with will come to fruition. We are fortunate to live in a democratic country where I have a voice and will again have a voice in four years, because we live free of dictators and despots. I have faith and hope that my opinion still matters.

Go figure - even for me, this election does come down to hope.

Preparing for an appearance on KPBS' "These Days" with Chris McConnell and Chuck Hartley, the topic selection for the program narrowed down to discussing the La Raza conference in San Diego, the gas crisis, and Proposition 2.  Among the producers, the radio program's excellent host Tom Fudge, and the three bloggers, we decided to discuss the Latino vote in general and Proposition 2. 

Although discussing animal cruelty can involve contentious debate, (just check out Chuck's blog and subsequent comments) I started to worry about how the conversation surrounding La Raza would take shape. Would I be asked to defend the organization, which gets a bum rap as being fundamentally divisive? How about my personal reasons for not attending? Would Tom Fudge ask me how a Mexican-American could not attend the conference in good conscience?

I wanted to look at Barack Obama's heritage, if I may. 

Obama is half-Kenyan and half-Caucasian. He may self-identify as "African-American," but his heritage really has very little in common with most African-American blacks.

His ancestors were not slaves, but were actually free Africans from the opposite side of the continent. It's similar to comparing someone whose family is from Norway and someone whose family came from Austria. Same continent, but two completely different cultures. 

But, the society that we live in seems to believe that if you have any 'black' heritage in your bloodline, then you ARE black - despite the fact that such thinking is outdated.

Thanks to Salon.com (who are spies like me and listen to right-wing talk shows to wrap the liberal mind around Republican dogma), a Fox News story, inspired the appropriate response of "how tacky" from Obama supporters and non-entrenched GOP voters alike. Along with other stories, the Obama camp has now responded in kind.

The Fox News story about Michelle Obama, accompanied by popular conservative blogger Michelle Malkin (using her best pundit-savvy voice), ran a caption stating "Stop Making fun of Obama's Baby Mama." 

Now, the irony of identifying the Democratic candidate's wife of 16 years, a Harvard trained attorney and professional in her own right, as the mere vessel of Obama's lineage a few days after the New York Times' headline story about her impeccable grace, style, and elegance is vintage smear-machine Fox News. The tongue-in-cheek, satirical tone of "Faux News," as it's commonly referred to in liberal parlance, often turns straightforward news stories into Saturday Night Live skits. 

Sure, for any sticklers saying "what's wrong with the caption?" Senator Obama's wife is in fact the mother of their two children. But, Fox News' use of the phrase "Baby Mama" clearly diminishes Michelle Obama's role in the senator's life as well as minimizing Senator Obama's role in his kids' lives. 

Don't think for a moment that we have a political respite until Election Day. In these next 143 days, history can be made and every hour counts until America goes into the booth to cast her vote.

Though voter turnout is predicted to be higher than in any election since 1972, only 27 percent of the population is estimated to have voted in the primaries. Now is the time to get the rest of the disenfranchised registered, educated, and motivated.

The outcome in November will dictate whether we as a culture will progress into the future, with a chance to regain the world's respect and good will, or remain mired in a pattern of decline, falling behind China and the European Union as a world power. We Americans have been lulled into thinking things will "sorta be ok" in America no matter what.

Well folks, things are not ok... thanks in great part to a corrupt self-serving administration that may still destroy America.

What we are up against now is an onslaught by "swiftboaters" and their clones, the likes of which we have never seen. It is up to us, the "regular people," to combat those assaults by looking beneath the surface, educating ourselves, and spreading the word.

One of my earliest memories of my grandfather is of him chasing my cousins and me around the kitchen with his false teeth, making them chatter at us like a cartoon monster’s.

Pop, as we called him, was the undisputed head of our family. We never questioned that my lovely grandmother waited on him hand and foot… that’s just how it was back then. His priorities took precedent and we conformed to his. He was a jokester of utmost proportions. While we kids often found him hilarious, some of his “tricks” took on an edge of cruelty. But that too, was just how it was. Texas of the 1950’s was still a pretty raw place and you needed to be tough to get along. 

After Mac, my grandfather’s Chihuahua died, Pop started feeding stray cats, which then took up residence under the house. There was a constantly changing population that fought and bred and ate and slept and died there. 

Out of all those original cats, there was only one who was given “House and Lap” status. There was one big, black female who won my grandfather’s attention, so we kids let ourselves love her as well. Because she was Pop’s chosen favorite, we were pretty sure she would not be run off with a pellet gun or drowned in a flour sack, so we felt safe in letting her into our hearts.

This cat’s name was Nigger.     

After Tuesday’s vote, I learned that I fell outside two demographic groups, making me something of an anomaly.

The Los Angeles Times’ political blog, “Top of the Ticket” ran the number of Democratic women in California who voted for Senator Clinton (52%) as compared to Senator Obama, and the number of Democratic Latinos who voted for her (61%). A higher than usual turnout by women and Latinos has been credited with giving Senator Clinton a win in California.

I am a Mexican-American woman who voted for Senator Obama and apparently, was in the minority in my choice of candidates. It got me thinking. Why didn’t I fit with my groups, both women and Mexican-Americans and other Latinos? Could I be that weird?