Dumbledore '08

The reason I voted for Obama...

He reminded me of this guy.



That's right - Albus Dumbledore. A Gryffindor, the renowned Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the founder of the Order of the Phoenix, defeater of the dark wizard Grindelwald. You've probably heard of him.

As all of the election madness was taking place, I was in the midst of re-reading my favorite book in the Harry Potter series. That's probably why I started to see (or maybe I should say create) parallels between Obama and Dumbledore...

When the evil Lord Voldemort returned, Dumbledore did not try to cover up the truth - he wanted to take bold and immediate action. He never lied to Harry or the rest of the Wizarding world in saying that it would be easy to defeat Voldemort. He knew how difficult and dangerous the task would be yet remained brave and willing to fight. Because he had a vision of a better world. And his courage was contagious, inspiring many wizards and witches to rise up to challenge the Death Eaters. And ultimately, after undertaking great challenges and failing more often than he succeeded, he enabled Harry to carry out the restoration of peace to the magical world.

Above all, however, Dumbledore's most admirable quality was his tolerance of and willingness to cooperate with all magical creatures - even the misunderstood giants and detested "half-breeds."

It all seems quite ridiculous when I say it aloud (this is what happens when you let your imagination run away from you.)

While I do not have full unyielding faith in President Obama as of yet, I feel some degree of comfort in recognizing his loose similarities to the greatest wizard to ever live...in my head.