As I watched our Commander-in-Chief saluting the nation’s fallen at Dover Air Force Base last August my heart swelled with both sorrow and hope. Sorrow for our fallen heroes, but hope because I saw the eyes of a President who gets it.  President Obama understands that Top Gun inspired carrier landings do nothing to advance American foreign policy or military objectives in Iraq or Afghanistan.  As an Army veteran, I support our President because of his consistent Smart Power approach in marshaling our nation’s global economic influence, foreign policy, and military supremacy to further our national interests.

As a soldier that served on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in South Korea in 2001, I understand the real world implications of protracted military commitments.  President Obama has continuously sought opportunities to collaborate with our allies, while avoiding the need to sustain costly half century military obligations like the defense of the DMZ.  His cool-headed limited use of military force coupled with robust statecraft during the “Arab Spring” proved that the Obama smart power doctrine is the proper framework for ensuring success in unconventional military conflicts.  Since taking office, the President has ended the Iraq war; and redirected our national security strategy from nation building to the successful and explicit targeting of Osama Bin Laden and other top Al Qaeda leaders.

Domestically, our President has addressed meaningful issues that impact returning service members and their families.  Through the Post 9/11 GI Bill the President made it easier for veterans like me to access my education benefits or transfer them to my immediate family members. He has increased the Veteran Affairs budget and provided healthcare to over 500,000 previously denied veterans.  President Obama’s attention to these issues shows me that he is serious about taking care of this country’s responsibility to its service members.  

During Black History month we are called to remember the contributions of notable African American visionaries that broke the mold and challenged America to see beyond itself.  As an African American veteran, I am proud to commemorate our President’s achievements and acknowledge him for honoring the sacrifice of all those that have served this great nation.  President Obama’s bold and insightful leadership makes him the right choice to lead our country into the future and I stand ready to support him in that endeavor.

A businessman for whom I have great respect once observed that, when tackling problems, most things are simple, but not easy.  In expressing this view, he easily could have had President Obama in mind. 

In his first term in office, despite the headwinds, the President‘s handling of the most intractable problems was masterful.  And just when you think that something monumental could fall through the cracks because he’s had so many fires to put out and so few water hoses with which to do it, time and again, he demonstrates that he never takes his eye off the ball.      

Case in point:  Who had even an inkling that while taking playful jabs at Donald Trump during last year’s White House Correspondents dinner, he was actually in the throes of executing a plan that would be the next day’s breaking news - our Navy Seals’ Mission Impossible-like raid that relegated Osama Bin Laden to a closed chapter in the war on terror.  Or that the handshake he gave to Leon Panetta just before his recent State of the Union address was to congratulate him for the subsequently announced hostage rescue made by the very same SEALS team.

Of course, not all of the successes during his short time in office are as spine tingling.  But the list is long and feats are hard won.  What makes them all exceptional is that he accomplishes them with so little fanfare that, if we’re not careful, we could be lulled into taking them for granted.  This would be a mistake because, remember that while it may be simple, it is never easy. 

Consider just a few of the promises kept that any American should be embarrassed to take issue with, despite the wide and sometimes irreconcilable range of views that make up the American political landscape:

• Al-Qaida fatally crippled
• $20 Billion+ Support for our Veterans
• Rescue of the U.S. Auto Industry
• Equal pay for Women
• $36 Billion provided for Pell grants to low income students by eliminating Subsidies to the banks
• Improving Jobs landscape                           

All of this is to say that, if this cameo of the Administration’s 3 year batting average is any example, then it’s self-evident why America needs four more years of an Obama Presidency.

And as we recognize Black History month, we should remain mindful that the source of pride is not merely in having an African American President, but rather, it’s in having this President who happens to be African American.

During the last election, I asked Tupper Jones, a 90+ year old African American retired businessman in Cofield, North Carolina, if he’d ever thought he’d live to see a black man become President.  He responded that he had been thinking about it all of his life.  Imagine how he feels today.

At this moment in history, when all of America thirsts for a return to prosperity, optimism about tomorrow and a recalibration of our moral compass, we are blessed to have an unflappable President who hit the ground running and is just at the beginning of a long distance race. 

Happily, President Obama has no need for 21 gun salutes for his accomplishments or to win the latest popularity contest.  What he does need is us because his job is only half done. 

Let’s use this occasion to commit ourselves to making sure America has what it needs - another Obama term – through volunteering, contributions, organizing, persuading and, if need be, willing it to happen.

President Barack Obama has done an outstanding job under some of the most difficult circumstances in decades, and he deserves a second term to finish turning the country around.  When he campaigned for President, he promised to reform our health care system, end the war in Iraq, restore a sense of fairness to our economy and look out for the middle class.  He’s done all of that and much more.

Before President Obama signed the health care bill into law, 1 in 5 African Americans were without health insurance.  That will no longer be the case when the law is fully implemented in 2014.  And the President ended the rescission policy that allowed insurance companies to drop someone if they hit the cap on their coverage or had a pre-existing condition. That’s a promise kept.

After the financial collapse, the President vowed to put some common sense rules of the road in place to prevent another taxpayer-funded bailout. He established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will end the worst abuses from the credit card and mortgage industry. 

And he’s taken several steps to turn the housing market around and reduce the number of foreclosures. He recently announced a major settlement with the banks that requires them to pay billions of dollars in relief to homeowners and guarantees that they will help families refinance their high interest rate mortgages.

America needs this kind of leadership and more of it. 2008 was a historical election and we’ve seen the change the President talked about.  2012 is about protecting that change and ensuring that we keep the country heading in the right direction. To learn more about how the President has kept his promise, click here.

I support President Obama because he has put forward a social, political and economic vision for the United States, which ensures that we will continue to prosper in the 21^st Century.  For too long, politicians in Washington failed to understand that our nation was crumbling, and little action was taken to find solutions to some of our most pressing issues.  Everything from our bridges, and tunnels, to classrooms and community colleges has suffered from a lack of investment.  Thankfully, President Obama has seized the moment to turn things around.

While he inherited an economy that was spiraling towards a second Great Depression, the president seized the initiative and began laying the foundation for an economy that is built to last.  Not only did he include important funding to keeping teachers in our classrooms and cops on the beat through the Recovery act; but the President is also trying to renew the American values that made the middle class – values like fairness and opportunity where everyone plays by the same rules.  And educating future generations so they can compete against countries like India and China is central to his blueprint.

The President launched “Race to the Top” to rewards schools that provide quality programs for vulnerable children across the country.  And the President has also made a deeper commitment to HBCUs, investing $850 million for these institutions over the next 10 years.  And he’s made it clear to all agencies that supporting HBCUs isn’t just a job for the Department of Education.

While we’ve come a long way over the last three years, there’s still plenty of work left to do.  Click here if you want to learn more about how the President is trying to build an America that lasts.

Throughout American history, tough choices, compassion, conviction and change have been qualities we admire in our Presidents. Fortunately for our country, President Obama has displayed them all through some of the darkest days our country has faced in decades. While we aren’t out of the woods yet, we cannot afford to take a leap of faith on an unproven leader who cannot be trusted to stand up for working families.

When he ran for the presidency four years ago, Barack Obama promised the American people that if he were elected, he’d fight to restore a sense of fairness to our society, reform health care, and make investments in America that would pay dividends for future generations. He’s kept his promise—and then some.

Thanks to President Obama, 32 million Americans will have access to quality health care that didn’t have it before, thanks to health reform. Nearly a quarter of African Americans will no longer be denied access to health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. President Obama has made college more affordable for working families by eliminating billions of dollars in subsidies to the big banks that administered the college loan program.

The President also secured $850 million in additional funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and $150 million for predominantly black institutions. And Congress finally passed the President’s payroll tax cut, which benefits 18.5 million African Americans, putting $800 back in the average family’s pocket.

President Obama is the change that you and I can depend on. I’m happy to say that President Obama kept his promises and he deserves four more years to finish the job. To learn more about what the President hopes to accomplish, click here.

In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took his struggle for black workers and their families to Memphis, Tenn., because he understood the connection between civil rights and workers’ rights.  It was there that the 1,300 sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 went on strike to demand respect, fairness, and a voice in the issues that mattered to them.  The sanitation workers weren’t simply fighting for better pay and safer working conditions.  I said at the ceremony to dedicate the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, in Washington, D.C., this past fall that they were asserting a claim on our democracy.

As we observe Black History Month 2012, working people from coast to coast are asserting the same claim.  They are banding together to denounce corporate power run amok, callous disregard for the many families who are struggling, and restrictive voter laws designed to keep millions out of the voting booth.  In doing so, they are taking part in a Main Street Movement and exercising power through solidarity.

Many families are still experiencing the worst of George W. Bush’s recession – a recession that was deeper and lasted longer than many thought possible.  President Barack Obama understands how hard things have been for African American families and he’s taken action to help turn things around.

The President’s jobs agenda would provide a tax credit to businesses to encourage them to hire the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and make critical investments in our infrastructure and future generations.  Specifically, his jobs plan would prevent nearly 300,000 teachers, firefighters and police officers from being laid off, and put men and women to work modernizing public schools and rebuilding roads, bridges, airports and waterways.

In 2008, they saw the power of our voices and the resulting progress the President has made to move our country in the right direction.  So the major attempts to roll back voters rights and block the President’s agenda are not a surprise and come from the same place: a disregard for working people and desire to push the American dream further out of the reach of families that work hard and play by the rules.  But we will not be silenced in November.

Four years ago, AFSCME members across the nation worked hard to get out the vote for candidate Barack Obama.  With AFSCME’s endorsement of the President’s re-election, we look forward to knocking on doors, phone banking, driving voters to the polls, and doing all we can to ensure the President’s victory in November.

To learn more about how the President’s wants to continue helping working families, click here.

Like millions of Americans, I was inspired by Barack Obama, a visionary leader who aroused my hopes, renewed my confidence that our best days are ahead and demonstrated that nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

But as an African American woman, I know all too well that change is hard.  Progress has never come easily or quickly in this country.  However, as Democrats we realize no matter how difficult things get we must keep fighting and we must keep moving forward.  It is this spirit that guided our nation for 236 years.  And it is this spirit that has guided President Obama since his first day in office.

Handed an economy teetering on collapse and facing an extreme Republican Party, President Obama started working to bring us back from the brink; to restore prosperity; and to build a future where everybody does their fair share, gets a fair shot and plays by the same rules. 

The change President Obama achieved in three short years can be seen in the 3.7 million jobs created over 23 consecutive months of job growth, the rescue of the auto industry, and the restoration of American manufacturing.  He passed historic healthcare reform that delivers affordable care and ends insurance company abuses, doubled funding for Pell Grants, implemented tough Wall Street reform that protects consumers from predatory practices, extended unemployment benefits and expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit.  And he kept his promise to end the war in Iraq.

Yet for all the promises kept and progress made, there remains more to do.

We have to keep fighting to rebuild our roads and bridges, keep teachers and police officers on the job, renew our investments in education, research and technology, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, promote clean energy, and tackle our deficits with a balanced approach.

I have spent 30 years working in public schools, and have raised two children of my own.  It is heartbreaking to see the next generation discouraged, despondent, and uncertain about whether they can realize the American Dream.  In these dark times, only President Obama can be that bright light of hope and possibility.

When I think of this election, I remember what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the fierce urgency of now.”  I believe we stand at a critical moment in history.  We can choose either to move forward or move back.  We can either renew the promise of America or return to the failed policies of the past.

In 2012, we must make the right choice, again.  We must move forward with President Barack Obama.  To learn more about the President's record, and how you can help him move the country forward, click here.

I support President Obama even more than I did during his initial campaign for President.  During the 2008 campaign then Senator Obama was a bright flash of hope on a dismal political landscape.  While his education and activism in Chicago were inspiring, his brilliance and commitment to “building a more perfect union” convinced me that he was the right man for the job.

Our country and our President have been through some tough times over the last four years.  Yet the President has worked hard to turn the country around and he has fulfilled several of his campaign promises.

President Obama said that he would reform the failed “No Child Left Behind” and he has.  The President invested billions of dollars in “Race to the Top,” to reform low-performing schools and reward schools that give vulnerable children a quality education.  President Obama also said that he would work to close the education gap by promoting more preschool education.  And in 2010, his budget included $300 million for an Early Learning Challenge Fund to help states create “zero-to-five systems” to prepare children for kindergarten.

The President also promised that he would work tirelessly to create an economy that lasts so the children we are educating have jobs when they graduate.  We’re starting to see the fruits of his labor, but now is not the time to turn back.  The economy has added jobs in the private sector for 23 straight months.  The President saved the auto industry, and the millions of jobs it supports.  And manufacturing is adding jobs for the first time since the late 1990’s. 

By accomplishing as much as he has in the midst of rigid partisan opposition, President Obama has proven himself to be the definition of strength, courage and leadership.  It is for this reason and so many others that I am focused on working to ensure that President Obama has a second term so he can finish what he started.

To learn more about the President’s accomplishments, click here.