An Open Letter to Barack Obama

Dear Barack,

I'm 26 years old and I never voted for anyone in an election for anything until this past November. I don't think politicians can be trusted. I don't think they care about my interests. I don't believe them when they say they're looking out for the little guy - on the odd occasion these days when they even bother to say it. Politics in America is corrupted and perverted, and power has been pulled from the many into the hands of the privileged few.

I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, my beliefs don't fit into either category of liberal and conservative; I just believe in what I think is right. I don't think I'm all that different from most people in that respect. Whatever we believe, most of us just want to do what we feel is right, and we think it'd be nice if a few of our leaders wanted the same thing. I've abandoned any belief that politics as it exists today can do anything good for the people. That's why I'd like it very much if you were for real.

You seem like a smart guy, but more importantly like a genuine guy. When you laugh at something, it looks like you actually think it's funny, and you're not just being patronizing. You're a good sport; when you participate in something like that video open for Monday Night Football a few months back, you seem to legitimately be enjoying yourself and not just doing it because one of your college student interns told you it would be "cool." When you talk extemporaneously to people, I get the impression you're actually listening to the people and responding to what they are saying, rather than looking for holes to plug with pieces of a stump speech.

And when you do give a prepared speech, it at least seems as though you've read it prior to the occasion and have some conviction about what you're saying.