vote early, vote often (just kidding!)

Normally, I don't use the blog to post on things political, but I had an interesting experience on Saturday and I want to share it.

First, I should say that I am a proud liberal who tends to vote dem. Wasn't always that way. Used to be more moderate, independent, and voted for candidates on both sides of the aisle. That ended in 2000. Please don't assume that because I am a liberal dem that I do not love my country, that I am not patriotic, and that I am not a person of faith. The exact opposite is true. It is because I love this country that I will stand up and voice my dissent.

Back when the dem candidates numbered more than 2, I was impressed with the line up of players and kept an open mind about my choice -- any of them being a vast improvement over the current POTUS. My fav tended to be Bill Richardson, but I didn't really think he had a chance. I liked Hillary's message and aggressiveness, but I worried about the fact that half the country seems to hate her. (I am one of those rare individuals who is ambivelant toward her -- don't love her; don't hate her.) Loved Barack but didn't know if people would seriously give him a chance. I have watched the primaries whittle the contestants down to two and have found the tight race exciting. I continued to be impressed by Obama but didn't rule out a possible Hillary selection. I felt that whichever one became the nominee I would be comfortable voting for them in the general. For various reasons, my support for Obama became stronger, and I knew that he would be the one I would vote for if the primaries still mattered come March 4.

So, here I am in Ohio -- standard political battleground -- in Columbus and the bombardment begins: phone ringing off the hook (I turned it off again today so don't try to call us on our house phone) and flyers flooding the mailbox. Hillary robo-calls; Barack uses real live people. Hillary drowns us in negative ads; Barack sticks to promoting his own campaign. I get emails from the Obama campaign encouraging me to vote early and they tell me when and where I can do that. So, guess what I did? I voted early and I voted for Obama.

Drove downtown to the Franklin County Board of Elections on Broad Street in Columbus and watched as people walked carrying Obama signs. I found a place to park (in the BOE parking lot, no less!) and got in line OUTSIDE in the cold. There were various local campaign people hanging around, and the most interesting were all the Obama campaigners. They were thanking us for waiting in the long line and telling us that coffee was on the way. Sure enough, before I FINALLY made to the front door of the BOE, a young woman stood there pouring Starbucks coffee.

During my 2-hour wait in line, I did a lot of observing and noticed some interesting things. My pasty whiteness was in the obvious minority, young people stood in line with the elderly, and people of various cultures/ethnicities were taking part. I found myself talking with an African-American woman who was about my age. She was raised in California but had lived in Ohio for about 10 years now. With her degree in chemistry, she was once a high school teacher, but she is now a stay-at-home mom. We talked about our kids, education, and eventually the greatness and importance of diversity -- beyond black and white. I debated whether to reveal that my children are adopted and of color. That is always a gamble when you are talking with strangers. But then as our conversation moved to kids resembling parents and relatives, I shared with her that ours do not because they are internationally adopted. She asked where they were from and expressed how incredibly cool she thought it was. We had a great conversation as we waited, waited and waited for our turn to vote. Then, an elderly black woman who was standing behind me asked my new friend about her hair, and suddenly I was in the middle of a discussion about doing and caring for African hair. I actually knew what they were talking about! What was great was that SAHM chemistry teacher turned to me and asked, "What about your daughter?" I laughed and shared how I had had to research and learn how to do her hair.
So, other than the poll worker who tried to skip over me because she thought that I was also a poll worker, my early voting experience was fabulous. Everyone seemed excited to be there, and I enjoyed conversing with complete strangers. When I walked out of the BOE and headed to my car, it was about almost 12:00 -- the time when the polls were to close for the day. The line was longer than ever. How cool is that?
Barack the Vote, y'all.