OK, I’ll admit it – I’ve caught the fever and have jumped aboard the Barack Obama bandwagon.

At least for now.

I know what you might be asking: how in God’s name can a conservative even think of supporting someone as liberal and way-out-there-left as Barack Obama? Simply put, I’m ready for a change. Like in my religious life and church affiliation. Like in my personal life and personal life choices. Like in my work situation. I’m ready for a change and thirst for that rarified air of looking forward and not backward, and Obama’s campaign symbolizes all that for me.

I’ve thought a lot about this, and after looking at all the Republican candidates for President found them all incredibly wanting. I liked Fred Thompson, but the guy ran a pathetic campaign long on ideas but short on political savviness. John McCain is just too old, and in my view offers little difference from what we have gotten from 8 years of George W. Bush. Mitt Romney, I’m sorry, I’ve tried to like him and get behind him several times, but he just has a magical way of turning me off (his crack about his five strapping sons serving their country by working for his campaign while one of McCain’s sons is in the Marines did it for me personally) – and my wife feels the same way. Mike Huckabee is right – Romney does look exactly like the kind of guy that just laid you off. And he does look and act like a Ken doll.

And I’m sure I’m not the only Republican who is at least willing to take a look at Obama. Consider this post from Erica Anderson at Red State. She’s absolutely right about that. Personally, This particular post did it for me. Can you imagine a Republican offering the same kind of message of hope and change? Not in my lifetime or this bunch of uninspiring and lifeless candidates.

If I were Hillary Clinton, I’d be feeling just a little anxious about the Obama surge right now. Once seen as the “inevitable” candidate for the Democratic nomination, she has seen her once huge lead get whittled away slowly but surely to the point where she and Obama are virtually tied nationally. And when it comes to the Clintons, my view is that, just as you do with vampires, you don’t wait till the end of the day to drive a stake into the heart of the beast, you do it while the getting is good. Hence, I’d much rather see HILLARY! go down in the nomination process than have to depend on some huge anti-Clinton turnout in the general election. And with her spouting dangerous ideas like this, that would be tempting fate just a little too much.

But to me, there’s something else at work here. Contrast Obama’s message – not his substance – with every other candidate on both sides of the aisle. Like him or not, the fact is he is a breath of fresh air and has a (dare I say) Reagan-esque air of optimism about him: you want to believe him when he says he would reach across the political aisle to get things done, and he’s a Democrat you can listen to even if you don’t politically agree with him.

Me, I’m willing to give the guy a shot. Like Mitt Romney says, Washington is broken and the nation is definitely on the wrong path. And maybe, just maybe, after two of the worst presidencies this country has ever had to endure, it’s time the nation try a different tack. He and I may not agree on what exactly what that means politically, but I trust him, like him as a person, and believe in the message he is putting forward. And I long to believe in someone, not simply to vote against someone – hell, we’ve all been doing a little too much of lately.

To me, an Obama presidency would end this country’s destructive addiction to Clinton and Bush presidencies. An Obama presidency would get us out of Iraq and the gross entanglements in the Middle East that have cost our country so much human treasure. An Obama presidency would force us to get off of our addiction to oil (foreign and domestic), and penalize companies for moving American jobs overseas. Maybe I’m wrong, but in my view he’s be a better choice for the country than yet another old warrior, the guy who just laid you off, and, God forbid, another Bill and Hillary White House.

Here’s hoping Obama can close the deal in the weeks ahead.