My name is Nate Morris
I am a 22 year old, Independent voter and I cast my absentee ballot yesterday, allowing my 9th grade class to watch and sign as my witnesses.
I am currently working in Tulsa, OK with Teach For America, but I am registered to vote at home in Manassas, VA. In 2008, I fervently supported Barack Obama - but now, after a lot of research, prayer, and contemplation - I decided to vote Romney.

Below is my explanation as to why:

On October 24, 2008 - then Senator Barack Obama launched his final new ad of the 2008 Presidential Campaign. In a two minute ad that featured the candidate spelling out his plan for America, Obama looked into the camera and spoke plainly - no music, no fancy graphics, just him.

The ad, entitled 'Defining Moment', opened with a simple quote...

At this defining moment in our history, the question is not 'are you better off than you were four years ago?', we all know the answer to that. The real question is - 'will our country be better off four years from now?'"

At this time, exactly four years ago - I was dreaming of an Obama win. Every moment of every day had become a fight to ensure that the young Senator from Illinois took his seat in the White House.

He had captured our imagination with his message of hope, and renewed our belief in the American system of government with a promise for change. He was my generation's Jack Kennedy.

Soon, Mr. Obama would shed the title of Senator, and assume the title of President, where he promised to bring America out of the dark days of the Bush era, and into a time of prosperity and peace.

Everything in me wanted for President Obama to succeed. Everything. He fought, incredibly hard, for what he believed in - and I truly believe that he had at heart the interests of the American people every single time his pen crossed the dotted line on a bill that came across his desk.

It was not long after his inauguration, however, that I saw his fabric begin to fray.

I remember sitting at home the summer following my Freshman year of college, and seeing the images of Iranian protesters on the television screen. This was the beginning of an extended uprising in the Arabian peninsula - of a series of mass demonstrations that brought people from all walks of life together to fight for one thing: Freedom.

I saw as these young protesters -- many of them my age -- fought against the Ahmadinejad regime after it appeared as though the election results in his tight race against challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi were rigged. I watched as they protested peacefully. I watched as they combated military violence. I watched as these young people died in the streets, shot by snipers, while they sought their own liberty.

And I listened to the deafening silence that emenated from the White House.

I will never forget watching a 20 year old girl named Neda - pierced in the heart with a bullet as she walked down the street - held in the arms of her friend as she died on national television. And I will never forget the crushing absence of anger - outrage - from an administration that appeared too cautious for its own good.
This same silence reared its head again in Egypt - and then again in Syria - while tens of thousands of innocents shed their blood for the cause of Freedom.

America cannot be silent -- we cannot let these people to remain invisible. This is not who we are - this is not the beacon of hope and democracy that is to shine as a city on a hill for the rest of the world to see. This was not our intended purpose, and yet it is who we are becoming.
As we return home, the President has pushed many incredible acts of social progression through Congress - including the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the creation of the most stringent MPG standards in our nation's history.

However, despite these successes, the debt continues to grow - by billions of dollars each day - increasing by $6.5 Trillion in the President's first term. At these rates - debt will reach $22 Trillion by the year 2016 (according to the USDC), and, if left unchecked, will reach a point where the economy will cease to be able to function because of the amount of interest owed on the debt within the next 25-40 years. Our ability to properly continue Medicare and Social Security will expire - and our opportunities to fund any project aside from paying down the debt will be non-existent.

You see, while everything in me wishes I could back the President in his bid for a second term - while I want desperately to throw my support behind him - I cannot do that, because I am at a point in my life where I can no longer simply look after my own interests, but must look after the interests of the family I have now, and the family I hope to have in the future.

While I will be the first to admit that Mitt Romney is, in no way, my ideal candidate for President - he is the choice that I must make in this election. His business acumen and his true record as Governor of Massachusetts (which include details that are far too lengthy and in-depth for me to post at this late hour) show me that he is capable, that he is willing to work across the aisle, and that he has the skills to get this country back on its feet.

Likewise, since its release in 2011, I have been a proponent for the Ryan Budget's plan on Medicare - one that puts the choices back in the hands of the consumer, rather than the government, spurs on competition, and increases quality of care.
The President made it clear that his election in 2008 would face a referendum on how well the country was moving by the time of the 2012 election. As much as I wish things were better - as much as I wish I could throw my hat in his ring, I cannot - not when the future and well being of my posterity are at stake.

Over one million more people are out of work today versus when the President took office - 23 Million in total - and more Americans are on Welfare and food stamps today than ever in the history of our nation. That is not America. We are not a nation of dependency, we are a nation of independence - of strength - and of perseverance. While we have, as a nation, an obligation to help the poor, sick, and needy - it cannot become acceptable for our nation to leave our fellow citizens in a state where they are in need of the government for survival - because they absolutely deserve better.
Tomorrow morning, barring some huge October surprise from Gloria Allred, I will cast my vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for President and Vice President of the United States. I wish this could be different, but I simply cannot cast my vote to allow this nation to continue down the path it is currently on - something has to give.

And so, on election night - no matter the outcome - there will not be shouts of joy, or tears of sorrow. Instead, there will only be a clinging to hope - and a prayer that in four years I can look back on this moment and say, with absolute confidence:
We are better.