Ah, so the election is over. And I am glad for several reasons.
First and foremost because now I can actually breathe and sleep since the nightmare of the last 8 years is over. It's such a relief to know I don't have to worry about my rights being trampled on as they have been under this reign of horror.
Thank the gods that people have finally wised up and said "hell NO!" to theocracy and war.
That and the robocalls, flyers, ads, commercials and other stuff is behind us. It was getting kinda old there at the end. Every other commercial on TV was for a candidate or issue.
For the first time in my life, I actually went out and pounded the pavement for a political candidate. MY anti-social ass! You *know* I've hit my bullshit limit if I'm out being politically active for a candidate. Issues, yes. But an individual? Not until now.
Here's my story and I'm sticking to it:
Halloween week I went on to the Obama website to see where they needed volunteers and if there was anything I could do because I couldn't stand it anymore.
They needed people to hang vote reminders on Nov 3rd and then on Nov 4th, they needed people to go out and make sure people voted.
So Monday, November 3rd, I went after work to hang voting reminders on doors. Most people were receptive. I met one toothless redneck who didn't want me anywhere near him (don't put one of those on my truck) - ah, no, asswipe, these are for supporters only - thanks for playing and say goodbye to your theocracy.
Then two rednecks in a pickup truck kept cruising by me. It was dark so they might have been concerned that I was trying to break into houses (altho WHY any self-respecting criminal would break into the FRONT DOOR is beyond me). They never said anything but I saw them drive by several times and slow down and watch me.
I was out for about 4 hours walking around hanging the vote reminders. My knee started to hurt but I finished my route then headed back to the office at 9pm.
Everyone at the campaign office was very welcoming and helpful. And organized! I mean this office was as well organized as one of our skating competitions - everybody knew where they were supposed to be and when and they showed up! It never ceases to amaze me when people can pull together and make stuff like this happen. (It's a skill greatly beyond my comprehension).
Then, on Election Day (the 4th), I went out to vote about 7am. There was a 20 minute wait which is pretty much unheard of in my district. I saw a lot of young kids there with their parents - something I've NEVER seen in my district.
Later, I took 1/2 day off work to go get out the vote. I drove to the Obama office and they gave me another list to check off if people had voted and if not remind them what time the polls closed and their voting location.
I got a lot of college kids who were living at home with their repug parents which rather annoyed me since most of those kids were at SCHOOL and not at their listed address. Urg! So that was bogus.
Some people were pretty crappy (I really don't know how people can do this long-term. I would have punched someone in the face if I had done it for more than a week). But the young kids were great. They were interested in what I was doing and why. It makes me think that maybe others might start paying attention and getting involved.
After my route was done, I headed back to the office where my joints promptly stiffened up. So they gave me a phone and a list and I started calling people to remind them to vote (since I wasn't in any shape to actually WALK anywhere).
I got one older lady who said, "honey, I've been voting Democrat since '58". That made me laugh.
At about 3pm, Deb was surfing the internet trying to find any exit polls or any information - it was weird - there was NOTHING anywhere. None of the other volunteers in any of the other offices had heard anything, either. That was really strange. Usually you start getting preliminary results by 2pm.
Several of the volunteers started really getting anxious and pacing around the office thinking the worst. Everyone was anxious. It was strange not hearing ANY word - I think that's what upset everyone more than anything - it was like some news blackout.
Then, about 4:30pm all of these horns started honking outside. At first it was just intermittent and nobody thought anything of it but it turned into a steady stream so we all ran to the windows to see what was going on. (I thought it might have been an accident or something since the office was right at the corner of a busy intersection).
It was all Obama supporters driving by and honking at the office. That was pretty cool. We all started waving and one guy ran out with an Obama sign. It was pretty encouraging considering we couldn't even get preliminary reads from the internet.
The rest of the volunteers that had gone out to remind people to vote started trickling in about 6pm. Some news was good, some bad and we STILL didn't know a damned thing from the news sites. That was the worst part - just not being able to get a read on what was happening.
After the polls closed we started cleaning up and getting ready to leave. Someone had reserved a room at the local bar/restaurant so we could watch the election results and get some grub but I didn't go. I was tired and sore and needed to get some ice on my knee.
I got home and turned on the TV but the US stations annoyed the hell outta me so I turned on the BBC. I was completely GLUED to the BBC and the internet from 8pm when I got home until 11:30pm when the BBC finally declared for Obama.
Of course, there was alcohol involved during this three hour span (mostly because I was nearly crawling the walls from anxiety over not knowing) so I was pretty mellow by the time it was "declared" over. Thankfully.
Today I've been about worth nothing and cried all the way into work (because NPR was talking about stuff that really got me choked up for some reason. I've been needing a good cry for a while now and this seemed like the time to do it.)
I'll put my time in at work (and maybe even actually get something done - ok, more than I thought I would anyway) and go home to sit in front of the TV again and see what the final counts are and how the local issues turned out.
I'm tired and I'm relieved. Now maybe I'll be able to sleep
Labels: politics - pres election
(0) comments
The Rogue Goddess saw shadows dancing at 12:06 PM
