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Blogging from the convention: Why I'm a supporter of Hillary Clinton

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: August 26, 2008 - I'm often asked why I supported Hillary Clinton instead of Sen. Barack Obama. If you haven't noticed, I'm a black man, 6 feet tall with a muscular build, and this is why so many people pose the question. It's often the first question before they find out just why I supported Hillary Clinton.

I come from a single home where my dad raised me alone. He didn't receive much help from anyone outside of the house. My grandmother passed away in 1992 of breast cancer. Erma Jean Baker was her name. She taught my father the values of working hard since he didn't go to college and that he needed to make sure I received the best education possible.

I was born in Port Chester, NY, and moved to Saint Louis a little after I was 3 years old. My mother -- a fabulous, warm, loving person -- couldn't handle the stress of having a young baby boy and being a teenager in a big city. My mother decided that she would give me up for adoption. My father, Kenneth Baker Jr., decided he wouldn't let any child of his be given to the foster care system, so he decided it was time for him to grow as a man and raise his child.

I write this short story of my childhood because I believe it is so much a part of who I am.

Most children aren't lucky enough to have parents that stay married, and raise their children, but I do believe all children who have at least one person to love them are blessed.

My dad worked for Allied Healthcare in Saint Louis where he made medical parts that would be delivered to hospitals in the city. We didn't have health insurance through his work, but we applied and qualified for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SChip). This gave me the critical health care coverage that so many Americans are left without.

You may remember that Hillary Clinton lobbied Washington in 1996 with former President Bill Clinton for universal health care for all Americans. Why the plan failed I do not know, but I do know that Hillary has stood up for me when all other representatives were worried about getting rich from the booming economy of the 1990's, the Internet, and plain old "me first."

I was too young in the 1990s to vote for Bill, but I pledged I would support Hillary Clinton for the work she did for me when I was a child without a voice. I know deep down in my heart that she is a champion for all Americans, and I know that she ran for president because she believed she was the best candidate in the primary.

As a young black voter, I am in the voting minority in America, and I take my right to vote very seriously. I believe in Hillary's campaign because like me women have had to fight for the right to vote, they've had to fight for the right of equal pay to their male counterparts, and they have done it gracefully.

I get fairly ticked when people call Sen. Obama's campaign such an historical campaign as if Sen. Clinton's wasn't. Follow me on this one for just a bit; all of the past presidents have been -- what? -- white middle-aged to older men. There has never been a woman in the White House.

I believe men should be nervous because wives are not going to sit idly by in politics anymore. They have a voice and a mission to change our country.

Through all that has happened during the primary election. I must say that I am a die-hard Democrat above all. I'm a realist who knows that anything is better than John McCain in the White House for another four years that the country just can't afford.

When I served in Iraq, I saw what the American government has spent billions of dollars on in the war. We have taken men and women from their families to fight in an unjust war that should not have been started in the first place. We can, and we must do better. Our only option is the change that Sen. Barack Obama will bring to Washington.

I went to an event today at the Union Station in downtown Denver. Sen. Claire McCaskill, and U.S. Rep.. Russ Carnahan spoke to the Missouri delegation. It was very nice, and well planned out. BNSF Railroad who provided lunch for the delegation put on the event. Everything was mostly typical, but they did have these little white chocolates with raspberry and cream filling; they were absolutely amazing, and I think I ate 15 or so.

Weather for Denver today was in the mid-90s. That begins to get a little warm under the suit jacket when you're trying to make your way to the Pepsi Center. It's not too bad with the light rail system that takes you around the city.

I'm going into downtown Denver tonight mainly to listen to Sen. Clinton, and Virginia's next senator, Mark Warner. I believe they will light up the night.

There are thousands of people in the city this week. I've met plenty of delegates who are excited about the future and the promise of our country.

I'm looking forward to tonight when Sen. Clinton delivers her thoughts and her convictions about the future of the Democratic Party.

Well, so long for now, but I hope to blog later tonight about the excitement of tonight's entertainment.

Akeam Ashford special to the Beacon