Barack and Wayne and You and Me

I thought about simply encouraging you all to get out and vote today. I thought about not mentioning my choice in a candidate, although anyone who reads this blog knows I'm voting for Barack Obama. Then I thought, if I can inspire one person to go vote, I've got to do it. And if I can't inspire you, maybe Wayne Nelson can.

Several months ago Mr. Nelson hired artist Harmon Mandigo to paint this mural on his Altadena clothing store, Wayne's Fashion. The Pasadena Star-News did a story about the mural and quoted Nelson as saying, "I figured I'd do whatever I can to help..." (I'd like to read the rest of the article but the charge for reading archived articles on the PSN website is unbelievable, outrageous, even despicable. But I digress...)

Timothy Rutt of Altadenablog was the first to post about Wayne Nelson's mural. I found it while tooling around Angela Odom's State & Lake. (I particularly like her photo.) I hurried on over to be third in line.

Nelson's small shop at 2808 N. Lincoln Avenue in Altadena is a busy place. The shelves are piled high with all things Obama. When I arrived the store was packed with customers buying Obama t-shirts, hats and buttons. People want to represent. But Nelson was able to take a minute to pose with his prized mural. He even took a picture of me with it.
We are excited, Wayne and I. We are two seemingly different people brought together by our hopes for America. We like Obama's message of hope and tolerance. We like his world view. We like the way he's taken the high road during his campaign, unlike the other candidate who degraded his own once-decent reputation by stooping to lies, insults and racial slurs.

We believe a President Obama can return America to decency in the eyes of the world and in our own, and lead America down the high road as a great nation once more.