Read the TPM Election Day Stories thread.
---
My sister-in-law worked the polls in Montgomery County, MD from 6am to 10pm yesterday.
She told me that, shortly before the 7am opening time, they heard a knock on the door. When they opened it, they found a 60-something African-American man, who asked, "Can anyone help me? I can't read and I'm hoping to vote for the first time."
What a day!
----
I was with a group of friends, one a German citizen of post World War II generation, with all relevant anxieties about the direction of our country toward Nationalism.
After hearing Obama speak for the first time at the Iowa primaries, she vowed to become a US citizen if Obama became president.
The evening was punctuated by calls from her three children telling her she was now "in the fold".
I will always remember the sound of her weeping softly through Obamas entire acceptance speech, and marvelling at how this this event will have such a powerful effect on many populations.
----
I was doing Election Protection in Virginia too.
There was a lot of confusion when I got there yesterday morning at 5:30: it was pitch dark and pouring rain, and several hundred people were milling around. (Some had slept in their cars right there in the parking lot.)
But the local election people -- who were not looking to cheat, just overwhelmed -- eventually got it sorted out, people lined up and then were moved in out the rain.
During all of this, a group, say half a dozen, middle-aged African-Americans came up to me and asked what was going on. I walked them through the process, gave them sample ballots, explained how to use them, and asked if there were any other questions I could help them with.
"Yeah", someone said, "when did all of this get started?" For some reason I blurted out: "about two years ago, in Springfield Illinois." And one of the women started to cry.
I can't tell this story without choking up.
----
I remember talking to my nervous in-laws in Pennsylvania before the polls closed there. They were refusing to turn the T.V. on until 11:00. We called them back after PA came in and told them they could start celebrating.
At 11:00 when the race was called, my wife jumped up and ran upstairs to wake our five year old son. She kept exclaiming "Obama is the President!" Obama has unified the country. Things were a bit dicey in our house for a while when I was backing Obama and she was backing Clinton. We were both solid behind Obama going into this election but it was awesome to see her as proud of Obama as I was for the first time.
Driving my kid to school today was surreal. I felt this weird sense of feeling good about everyone I met. Just smiling the whole day long. I realized I hadn't felt this way since 9-11.
Remember those few days where everybody was just a fellow American? Nothing else mattered. Your job and everything else seemed irrelevant. That's how I feel now. Except this time, we're united in triumph instead of tragedy.
We'll be telling this story to our grandchildren (and anyone else who will listen) for the rest of our lives.
The 9/11 comparison is an interesting one. |
