I have a confession to make to DailyKos. Though I comment occasionally, and sometimes write entries (I love the horserace aspect even though I don't have a dog in it, mixing my metaphors), I am not a Democrat, I am a left-wing independent who has prided myself on my independence....
I'm 28, and I don't have a long political history, but I have been a non-aligned left-winger (a libertarian socialist) since high school. I wasn't old enough to vote for Clinton (just barely missed out on voting in the 96 election), but I was politically aware and disgusted by what I saw under the Clinton administration - from NAFTA, to "welfare reform," to the caving on health care and gays in the military. There was not a single progressive legacy to the Clinton Administration but the Family & Medical Leave Act (which left him in a tie for Bush 1, who passed the ADA). I was one of many youth growing up at that time who saw no difference between Republicans and Democrats.
I've long been a believer in the Eugene V. Debs quote "I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't want, and get it." In 2000, I voted for Nader, and I don't have any regrets. I wasn't in a swing state, but I believe I would have made the same decision regardless. Al Gore has grown into a greater man since IMHO, but he wouldn't have been that man without the loss. I was registered in Connecticut at the time, and couldn't stomach voting for Joe Lieberman for Senate(pre-Iraq, so it was mainly about his sanctimony about morality), so I voted Libertarian, despite totally disagreeing with them on economic issues.
In 2002, I was registered to vote in Massachusetts. I was furious with John Kerry for voting for war authorization, so I wrote in the name of a Green who was not on the ballot.
In 2004, Dean was inspiring me. I didn't agree with him on most of the issues, but he was fighting for something and drawing clear distinctions. After Kerry won the nomination, I was inclined to vote Nader again, but it wasn't cinched until Kerry said that even knowing what he knew now, he still would vote for war authorization. In saying that, Kerry lost any chance for my vote, and I voted Nader again.
By 2006, I had moved to Pennsylvania. Though still not a registered Dem, I decided to vote for Bob Casey in order to get the hated Santorum out of office, though I still felt a little bad doing so. I voted green for representative because the local Democrat was otherwise running unopposed.
But this year, I will re-register as a Democrat to vote for Obama in the primaries, as the primaries are closed in Pennsylvania, and I cannot vote for him otherwise.
I don't worship Obama, I don't feel a part of his movement, I don't even trust him. But I know Clinton will be ready from day one to do things I won't agree with. I saw how her husband governed, and I hated it. Obama is a shot in the dark, but at least I can be hopeful he will be the best president on progressive domestic policy since Johnson. It's just better to take a risk with an unknown than accept something you know isn't acceptable to you.
Team Democrat still hasn't won me over for good - I'm an ideological leftist, not a partisan. I will vote for Obama in the general, and I won't vote for Clinton, period. But I think it says something about Obama that he can make me consider something that was anathema to me only a few years before. And I think there are millions more out there just like me. We'll see I suppose.
Please, no flames about me as a twice Nader voter. We all need to follow our own conscience - just be glad mine is aligning with yours for now.