Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Vote



There are few things that make me get out of bed early other than grits made by mom, but one of them is voting. I am a before work voter because I'm always afraid I will get stuck at work and not be able to vote. I love voting. I wish I lived in Chicago in the 60's so I could have voted more than once. I don't care if it is a school board election, I am out there. I do hope that for those of you in the United States that you will vote today. I don't care who you vote for. If there is a Marxist Leninist candidate and you feel their love, then vote for them. Whoever it is or what party it is or what issue it is, you need to make your voice heard. The thing is that you need to vote because it is only when everyone votes that we truly have a participatory process that involves everyone. Is that redundant? I don't know. Anyway, do make time to vote.


103 comments:

  1. I got to my polling place at 620am, and I was #88.

    then I came home to take a nap, then robobphone and an obama volunteer woke me up. I looked a mess at the door, and the woman asked me if my mom was available.

    lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. i voted and was voter 111!! cool huh!?! I took my son and waited 1.5 hrs but he was proud to be there with my husband and I going between us to make sure we were voting "right"

    i'm proud of my civic duty and teaching and instilling pride in my 9yr old about our citizenship :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I voted in the morning in S. Cali :) Then went to Starbucks to get my free coffee. :) ..Tis the American way!

    ReplyDelete
  4. shout out to chicago - vote early and often!!

    i voted early and i just got off the phone with someone in cali who said the line was LONG.

    ReplyDelete
  5. VOTED ...at 7:30 AM IN NEW YORK...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am so envious of you Americans - how I wish I could vote!

    But my boyfriend (who lives in Scottsdale) was in line @ 6:30 this morning in order to vote. He said the whole thing took an hour and a half.

    I'll be glued to the TV tonight watching the results. Hope everyone exercises their right today. This is without a doubt the most exciting election in our lifetime.

    ReplyDelete
  7. no on prop 8 and yes on 2, right?

    my township didn't really have any interesting things on the ballot, just something about 400M in water treatment.

    (wow desperate housewives with your seventh generation product placement)

    ReplyDelete
  8. we're watching it here in the UK, it's so exciting and nerve wracking at the same time but come on America - vote right!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous9:23 AM

    I think everyone feels that this is an important election and that people do care who you vote for. HOWEVER THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO DISCUSS WHO OR WHY.

    Just laying that out there now.

    Per my avatar, I voted about a week ago via absentee ballot.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 9:20 a.m. for me here in SoCal and I just got back to the office after voting. I wanted to wear my "I Voted" sticker all day today.

    Adore, I took my coffee with me on the way in 'cuz I was afraid of a long line and I can't be away from coffee for too long this early.

    We've got a funny guy here at our polling place who takes his job waaaaay too seriously. He loves telling us exactly where to stand/sit.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I voted (took all of 40 minutes and was voter 100). Then got my Starbucks and Krispy Kreme.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was up at 5:30am and got my vote on @ 6:45am. The polls in NYC were packed at that time, totally unexpected. I thought everyone would be voting after work.

    Now I just hope they won't call me for Jury duty shortly. It never fails whenever I vote, I get that damn JD summons, UGHHHH

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear USA,

    VOTE PLEASE!

    Regards,

    Canada

    ReplyDelete
  14. I got there at 6am and was the 7th person in my district with the last name between M-Z to vote, haha.

    I've been bugging so many people to get out and Vote they're probably in the booth thinking, "This will shut her up!"

    Good luck Cali, No on H8te from here in NY!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yes! Vote! It's a privilege, people. use it!

    And as much as I agree with dnfrommn that this is not the place for "debating who or why"...I sure have my hopes up ;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love,love,love to vote. Always have. I'm a real political dork.

    I scheduled a week's vacation around this election. I don't want to be away from the news for the next 4 days!

    I like having election day off, because I went @ 11:30, and didn't have to wait. There were 3x the normal number of people voting while I was there, but plenty of stations, so no wait. The local election board obviously prepared for the turnout.

    I'm in Indianapolis. Not only do our polls close earliest tonight, but media outlets are saying that if we go 'blue,' it could the first signal of a McCain loss. McCain currently has a tiny lead here, so if Barack wins, it would be pretty big.

    I just like being important in an election for a change. sorry I ramble.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I had to wait about 20 minutes this morning in my small town but the lines were really piling up when I left (around 7:40).

    MUCH greater turnout than I've ever seen here.

    ReplyDelete
  18. my stupid, lazy neighbor just drove into the block saying she waited in line for 20 minutes and didn't want to wait any longer. 20 minutes and she's bitching when some people are waiting 90. i told her she just forfeited her right to bitch about anything that happens over the next four years and she said, "maybe i'll try again later". maybe? the only thing she has to do the rest of the day is watch the cleaning lady.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Voted early this morning. No long lines but I live just outside of Austin in a small suburb. The morning crowd was mostly old people and moms like me.

    My parents and grandparents taught me about voting at an early age. I took my daughter to the polls and my husband will take my son when he votes later.

    VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sent in my absentee 3 weeks ago. Glad to see so many others using their right to vote. Best of luck to everyone's favorite candidate, and may we all get behind the winner to make the US a better place. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I was at my polling place by 7:15 am. I live in rural PA and it was just me and a couple of farmers at the firehall who were probably voting after they were done milking the cows! Too bad we don't have a Starbucks, or a Ben and Jerry's, or a Krispy Kreme -- I would've been all over that! (Yes, it's a miracle I have this thing they call the internet!)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I've always resisted voting by mail, etc., because I love the experience of going to the polls to vote. This year, though, I decided to vote early (Friday) and did it at the Recorder's Office in a poll so was glad to have gotten it out of the way so I can wring my hands today without fretting about the long lines (I waited about half an hour on Friday and that was fine with me. Chatted with other voters.)

    I kinda understand people who don't register to vote but I don't understand AT ALL people who register but DON'T vote.

    And I'm with the crowd that says, If you don't vote, then don't talk politics with me. Your opinion doesn't matter to me because you never bothered to make your voice heard when it counted. (I got into a shouting match once with a Vietnam vet who said he didn't vote because he "already served his country." I thanked him for THAT service, but said his political opinion didn't matter to me and he accused me of being ANTI-VETERAN! That guy was messed up!!!! I'm kinda GLAD he doesn't vote LOL)

    We are fortunate to live in a country where we can vote. Let's hope and pray whomever gets elected wherever you are is strong enough to turn this country around.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Voted on Oct 13... gotta love Chicago. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. caral, don't all (or most) states have early voting? i think they do.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ugh, it took an hour and 45 minutes to become voter #880.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Minnesota has absentee voting, but not early voting.

    We had a referendum on raising property taxes for schools, and I got a robocall last night saying that the schools were "failing," and asking for a "bailout." LOL, I guess education really has become a commodity? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:52 AM

    just got back from voting! even my 86 year old grandfather has said this is the most important election he's voted in ever. I was so happy to see so many people out voting today, and especially young people.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous10:55 AM

    Mooshki, you could early vote in person if you were going to be absentee from your precinct in MN (ie. out of town business, etc.)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hey Robyn, Prop. 8 got my No vote! That proposition got more publicity than the presidential candidates.


    Dear Canada:
    We're going to vote in record numbers today!
    Your truly,
    USA

    ReplyDelete
  30. I voted last Thursday! Whoo hoo!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I voted--no one on line but me, & I got my Starbucks!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Ah, Chicago. I just moved to Los Angeles but lived in Chicago for many years. At the last presidential election, the polling place for our neighborhood was right down the street from me, so I had to walk by it several times that day. Walking home from work, I saw two men standing outside the polling place, at just the legally required distance. As I passed by them, one approached me and very politely asked if I had already voted that day. I said that I had and he thanked me and I went on my way. I had gotten maybe twenty feet farther, when I heard him call out behind me, "You can do it again, you know!"

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hey American friends,

    VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

    Love from,
    An Excited Canadian

    ReplyDelete
  34. Voted weeks ago, but that didn't stop Giuliani from calling me every day to try and change my mind. If I got a vote for every annoying robocall from Rudy, the election would be over. Now, I'll be holding my breath all day hoping that America has gotten collectively smarter since re-electing the Shrub.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I voted weeks ago too! No polling places in Oregon - it's all done by mail.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I voted weeks ago too! No polling places in Oregon - it's all done by mail.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Living in LA, I got in some star sightings while waiting an hour and a half at my polling place!

    Michael Chiklis
    Katherine McPhee (sans wedding ring)
    Tiffani Amber Thiessen-without makeup-even prettier than all done up
    2 General Hospital peeps

    ReplyDelete
  38. Have to share this... The guy (sounds better than stupid old bigot) in front of me when I went to vote did his best to convince me that it is my duty as a white female to vote Republican. After all, Sarah Palin does have a vagina and all. **rolling eyes** When that didn't work, he changed tactics. In his best stage whisper he informed me that "If he (Obama) gets elected he's gonna let those people across the border to take our jobs." I shouted "Damn Canadians!" before my brain could even register that he was referring to the Mexican border. I thought the guy behind me was gonna die laughing before he could vote. :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. No need to vote now. Obama has this in the bag. Say goodbye to Bush and McSame! Hello President Obama. Deliver us from hell to Hope!

    ReplyDelete
  40. red, if enough people feel that way, obama will not have it in the bag.

    i'm from chicago. i'm used to my team tanking in the 9th. don't take chances - go vote.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wow--good for you Green Wave --all I saw was the elementary school custodian!

    ReplyDelete
  42. picky...where in PA are you from?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks adrian-it certainly made waiting in line much more bearable. To think all of these people live in my neighborhood (even if it's in the houses and not the apartments where I am!). :)

    ReplyDelete
  44. molly,

    Obama has this in the bag, guaranteed. With $600+ million for campaigning (thank god he reneged on taking public money) he has this election won against that old evil man. There is no need for Obama supporters to vote because he already won! The media has as much been saying so for the last few days. I can't wait for him to change the world!

    ReplyDelete
  45. VOTE ANYWAY!!!! If everyone thinks it's in the bag, it WON'T be in the bag!

    ReplyDelete
  46. the media consists of a bunch of egotistical morons that have their own agenda. they shouldn't be commenting on this at all, but they've steered us the past year and i think they're trying to steer us again by drumming up apathy among the obama supporters.

    you should vote anyway, if for no other reason than to be part of history making.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Ugh. I have to drive 18 miles accross the city which will take about an hour, then wait in line because a "smart" person didn't update my new address in the system. There is a voting poll down my street and unfortunately i can't vote there because i'm not in that district's system.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Here in NC we can vote early. We went Friday and still had to wait an hour!

    Serious turnout over here on the EC.

    Thank the Lord it's almost over, regardless of whomever wins!

    ReplyDelete
  49. and lisa--

    Too cute! You made me smile.
    Give'em hell, girl!

    ReplyDelete
  50. molly - missouri does not have early voting, just absentee voting.

    sorry if your question was answered already.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Red, you're a McCain plant, aren't you? ;)

    Molly, Go Cubs!

    ReplyDelete
  52. i early voted two thursdays ago in north kacalacki.

    ReplyDelete
  53. PS Enty ~ I like how you are keeping this blog entry on the top :)

    GO USA!!!

    I feel so patriotic today and usually I'm so anti America.

    ReplyDelete
  54. heather, that's a funny story! so chicago, too!

    princess, thanks for the answer. if it was answered, i missed it.

    mooshki, go anybody - cubs, bulls, bears, white sox. i'm a cubs fan, but i would have been happy if the white sox had moved on. we tank all the time!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Anonymous1:32 PM

    I voted for Johnny Depp for Prez and Jax for VP

    ReplyDelete
  56. Mooshki,

    No I am not a McCain supporter. Bite your tongue!!! No McCain supporter would ever be found on this site.

    Obama was predetermined by God to be our next president. Can't you feel it in the air? Obama will bring hope to all of us and make the United States respected in the world. I am tired of the French mocking us! Obama will be able to speak to those that want to harm us and make them our friends. Obama will be able to get our troops out of Iraq and bring peace to the world. There will be prosperity for all of us instead of just the rich. Obama knows how to do this because he's done it before. He has brought people together and stop waring factions from continuing their blood shed. He's done it in Kenya and he can do it here. The poor will soon vanish as they become middle class because Obama will create jobs with a living wage. He will tell Opec countries that we don't need their oil because Obama will spend for research to find new energy sources that will mean we won't need oil ever again! I am so excited that he is going to be our next President! It's in the bag! Say it with me, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!

    ReplyDelete
  57. Oh, Red, trust me, there are more than a few McCainers here. We all try to get along as well as we can. :)

    ReplyDelete
  58. Mooshki,

    I hope you voted for Obama because the rich shouldn't be able to keep their money. Spread the wealth so we all can prosper!

    ReplyDelete
  59. LOL, Brenda!
    We're absentees as well, and filled out our ballots Thursday night. It was fun going through all the props (In L.A., we have a total of 25 items to vote on). It was similar to a test in school; "What did you get for number 6?" Mailed them Friday. Today we'll just sit back and watch the tv coverage. Getting emails from friends in Europe needing reassurance. ;-D
    Thinking we'll have a record voter turnout. We can't assume anything. It's not in the bag for any candidate. Everyone who can vote and isn't planning to, really needs to so they can be heard.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I love voting too! I voted early this year, the first year Ohio has allowed early voting.

    ReplyDelete
  61. omg red thanks for the laughs...i can't figure out if its sarcasm or genuine hope.

    god i hope..hope.

    vote or the terrorists win!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Judi--that was so funny when you said "What did you get for #6?" I was thinking about that today when I was voting! I'm in LA also-where are you?

    ReplyDelete
  63. So, the polling stations are starting to close. Kentucky is republican. I have to go to rehearsal so I will miss all the drama. Hopefully I will come home to good news tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  64. So, the polling stations are starting to close. Kentucky is republican. I have to go to rehearsal so I will miss all the drama. Hopefully I will come home to good news tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  65. NC has been a republican-voting state for years, but right now...big things shakin' up out here, peeps.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Vermont is blue! And NOW I really have to go!!! *L*

    ReplyDelete
  67. i voted and didn't have to wait!! walked right up and voted!!! it was midday and on the westside...lines are gonna be cuh-razy in about an hr.....

    ReplyDelete
  68. i voted and didn't have to wait!! walked right up and voted!!! it was midday and on the westside...lines are gonna be cuh-razy in about an hr.....

    ReplyDelete
  69. for Obama. You left that part out Ent :)

    ReplyDelete
  70. woooooohooooo!!!!! looks like it's over and Obama will be president. the world applauds.

    ReplyDelete
  71. MoveOn has a very funny customized viral video. Just got one sent to me.

    Go here for the details:
    http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/taf.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  72. greenwavegal: Thanks for the scoop!

    lisa: That's funny! (How did the old guy respond?)

    I went mid-morning, but I was still expecting a big line. However, it was short, and it only took me about 10 minutes total. All the early voters, who waited in long lines to vote early, really helped us out. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  73. ms, I got one of those earlier. how funny!

    ReplyDelete
  74. Obama is our 44th president!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  75. Fantastic!!!! Thank you, my American friends, for voting for change!!!

    ReplyDelete
  76. President Obama
    Yes We Can =]

    ReplyDelete
  77. Getting up early and waiting in line..are you all crazy? I wouldn't do that to vote. What if it was stormy and rainy and earthquakey and an emergency happened or you get sick or something serious happens to someone you love or you get into a car acident and you can't make it to the poll that day?? I voted mail in absentee ballot 3 weeks ago.

    ReplyDelete
  78. What a monumental night.
    I'm so looking forward to seeing our new First Family in the White House.

    God Bless America!

    ReplyDelete
  79. America - FUCK YEAH!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  80. Shhhhh......do y'all hear that?

    It's the sound of millions of Americans sleeping soundly for the first time in eight long, hateful years.

    Finally, a president that's actually......presidential. Things are going to get better now - I can feel it!

    /yes, we can!

    ReplyDelete
  81. i have always been under either a bush or clinton my whole life. for the first time ever i feel like i am proud to be an american, and when obama spoke tonite he seemed sooo presidential and inspiring, i cried. whether you voted blue or red we have a fucking BLACK president for the first time in history!!!!!!!!!!! that is so big i dont have words. tomorrow when little kids wake up they will know they can be anything they want to be, regardless of how they look or where they come from. i am sooo happy right now. truly.

    ReplyDelete
  82. YES!!! Along with everything else, Obama can talk. Finally. Whatever the guy needs from us - Yes, we can. I've been teary-eyed for the last hour and a half. Finally.

    ReplyDelete
  83. obama/biden team at White House! yes. and NO to 8!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Heck, I'm Canadian and I feel like I'm walkin' on sunshine. Wonder how Americans feel? :)

    ReplyDelete
  85. I'm so proud of you guys for voting Barack in, it's amazing and brought happy tears when it was confirmed on the news this morning.

    What a fantastic situation and may he do well!

    ReplyDelete
  86. My goodness it's been hard to imagine an America not run by a 'good old boy'.

    I was so moved watching Barak speak last night - it truly felt like history was being made. I wondered if that's how your nation felt when JFK was elected - that feeling of a shift in hope.

    Congratulations from one little Canadian family.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Not only did Barack Obama give a moving and gracious acceptance speech, but John McCain gave a very classy and thoughtful concession speech. I hope that the pair can work together in the coming months to bring about unity in our government. The net few years will be rough, but I'm confident America made the right choice.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Told ya you didn't need to vote for Barack. It was all predetermined he would win this election!

    But I don't understand why the world markets are down. I thought the world wanted Obama and that peace and harmony would ring throughout the world. I guess that will happen soon enough because we all know that Jesus wishes he was as special as Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Anonymous9:06 AM

    Wow, red, you're right. Why, out of the millions of valid and qualified voices in the world, all much more readily accessible and well known than yours, it was really you that made me see the light. Gee. You sure did tell us!

    ReplyDelete
  90. Red, Obama doesn't need to raise taxes on the rich, he just needs to make them pay their fair share. Most rich people (and corporations!) pay a much lower percentage of their income than poor or middle class people do, because they can afford to pay people to find loopholes for them.

    ReplyDelete
  91. R.I.P. California gay rights. May ye rise phoenix-like from the ashes.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Ecstatic for you guys! And very sad in the same breath that Prop 8 didn't pass.

    How ironic is that - so gay rights are the last bastion to hurdle?

    Next step - openly gay female president!

    ReplyDelete
  93. @elsie:

    Wouldn't that've been Hillary?

    ReplyDelete
  94. I'm actually really surprised (and very sad) that prop 8 got through. What's going to happen now? All the couples that got married, are their unions going to be invalid now???

    ReplyDelete
  95. @D - LOL

    And, I have to clarify, my Canadian brain thought Prop 8 didn't pass = no gay marriage. Apologies. Back to regular programming.

    ReplyDelete
  96. one hatemongering group at a time peeps...don't you worry your new Pres will fix that Prop8.

    ReplyDelete
  97. mooshki I agree even the richest man in the world (Warren Buffett) admitted that he makes more money and yet pays fewer taxes than his employees.

    It's just time for the rich to pay their fair share in taxes.

    ReplyDelete
  98. mooshki,

    Gay rights didn't die in California. It's amazing how so many misinterpret what Prop 8 does and doesn't do.

    Gays haven't had any rights taken from them. Marriage isn't a "right".

    Gays in Cali have domestic partnership/civil union laws that give them many of the same legal rights as married hetero couples. They just can't get a marriage license.

    This is all about legitimizing homosexuality and nothing else because what is afforded to married hetero couples is offered to gay couples with out the marriage license. This doesn't make being gay illegal or impede the love shared between two gay people.

    This is all much a political ruse on the part of the radical gay left.

    ReplyDelete
  99. not my dollar,

    Warren Buffet pays less as a percentage of # of dollars than his secretary? I am guessing it's a %. And that's mostly because he has the ability to deduct and hide parts of his income that his secretary doesn't. It's laughable that people take Warren's comment out of context when they have no idea what he or his secretary pay.

    And for the record, Warren Buffet who wants the death tax kept in place is avoiding that tax he champions by donating his entire net worth to Bill Gates. This donation won't be taxed. So who's the hypocrite here?

    And what is one's fair share? What % is the correct % for one to pay?

    ReplyDelete