Obama bumper sticker or not - it's tough in a "red" state

A fellow Grad school classmate and blogger commented on my post about Obama coming to my town last week for a "town hall" meeting, and echoed his enthusiasm about feeling comfortable about finally being able to come out of the woods in terms of supporting a Democrat candidate and not feeling weird about it. His comments prompted me to think about my own optimism for this year's election, with that optimism tempered by a slight feeling of trepidation about openly supporting Barack Obama for President. I'd like to place an "Obama '08" sticker on my beat-up Honda Civic, but I'm a bit fearful of what would happen to me or my car if I went ahead and affixed the sticker as I'd like to.

You see, I live in a very "red" part of suburban Atlanta, Georgia, where "good ol' boys" and "W" stickers run rampant. I'm afraid of getting my car tires slashed, run off the road, or getting non-stop dirty looks as I drive around. Why should I feel this way though? It's not like Barack Obama or the Democrats are some fringe, weirdo party, or Communists (but judging by talk radio, Obama and the Democrats might as well be sporting scarlet letter "L's" on their shirts to alert others to their presence).

I know that I'll eventually put the sticker on my car, but after 8 years of being shoved into a corner and hearing that being a liberal or a progressive is bad, I'm really starting to feel like, "The last 8 years have been the worst for this country in its entire history!", and nothing could possibly be worse than what we've had. I guess it's going to take Democrats and progressive-minded individuals some time to get over the repressed feelings they've experienced over the past years. I'm gradually seeing more and more Obama stickers on cars in my area of town, so maybe my car will be the next one that sports one.