Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Day 2008!

I realized when I went to vote today that I get a huge kick out of doing so- I not only consider voting a civic duty, but the idea that I'm participating in such a huge decision is always something that gives me an adrenaline surge. Yeah, I'm a voting geek and this is such an important election - do we really want to choose change as a nation or will we stay mired in the crap that has ruined us?

My mom is voting for the first time as she recently became a citizen (and retained dual-citizenship status) thanks to Mark Stephanou at Senator Dodd's office.
She's super-excited about the process.
(The idiots at DHS couldn't manage to get her a new green card and they even told her she 'failed her biometrics'! How a person can 'fail' their own fingerprints is beyond me....just an excuse to pocket the fees.)

Aftermath:
On my way home last night, I did a little grocery shopping as I was so pumped up from watching the incoming results of the election online and there was no way I was going to be tired for a long time. I hopped back into my car, switched on NPR, and heard....McCain's concession speech! WTF?! I thought we were going to have to wait until morning at least to find out who won! So, after getting on the road, wiping tears of joy from my eyes, all I could think was 'Wow, what a gracious (yeah it's been already overused) speech- why didn't he run his campaign that way?' quickly followed by 'Crap- it's so late! Who can I call & whoop for joy with at this hour?!?' (Answer: Marko & J10X)
Fortunately, I got home in plenty of time to see Obama's wonderful victory speech- J10X & I were sitting there, crying, Oprah was crying, Jesse Jackson was crying....what a happy day!

This one of the few times in my life I can say that I'm proud to be an American and just marvel at the willingness of so many more people to get out there and vote and see that there can be a better future.

4 comments:

CL said...

Joey and I stayed up to watch the results...something I have never done before! That's how important this was. I sat in front of the computer for three hours watching results pour in.

And I'm sure we woke up our downstairs, cigar-chomping, Republican neighbor when we whooped it up at McCain's concession speech.

HA!

C. Margery Kempe said...

Hee hee! We watched part of the evening with friends who had all the cable channels and then headed home to watch the free streaming of MSNBC. Yeah, right on about McCain's concession. Pity he didn't elevate the campaign with that kind of honest speaking instead of the Rove-rhetoric, but that's the choice he made.

Whoo hoo -- of course, there's a long way to go yet. Obama is way too middle of the road for me, but he's a big improvement on the last eight years.

Glad to see everyone engaged with the process and once more proud to be members of this country. It's about time!

The Queen said...

Wasn't it exciting? I was tracking the results at work until I had to leave, then snapped on NPR, then the TV when I got home! I was prepared to stay up all night....

And your neighbor will be grateful when things go in a new direction for the best....

The Queen said...

Kate- oh, I agreee that McCain had a choice, and it's a real measure of how unfit he would be as president that he took the low road for his campaign. And don't even get me started on Palin- what an idiot.

I don't think anyone who wasn't middle of the road had a chance of being elected at all - people are sick of partisanship & special interests. And Obama is just inspiring - makes me want to roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches with him.

Oh, and WTF California, Arizona and Florida? Banning same-sex marriages? What is it with you people- do you need to practice hate-mongering to survive? Get a hobby.