Photo via Bob (and starring my favorite little buddy, Oliver):
Have you voted yet?
If so, please share your story.
I have lived on Bardstown Road in Louisville, Kentucky, since June. It was just the change of pace and place that I needed, and I’m really fond of the area and the people here.
And the food.
Whoa.
One of the most important things for me when I moved was to get my voter registration switched over from Indiana so that I could vote for Barack Obama today.
So this morning I got up early and set off on foot to cast my vote in what I feel to be the most important election in our nation’s history.
(And Senator McCain, I was a huge supporter of yours in 1999 and 2000, when you were everything that you say you are now, but aren’t. I even sent you a check for $25, because I believed you wanted to shake up Washington and I knew that George W. Bush was going to be trouble. And even though I’ve been an Obama man through and through, I still respected you. But you lost me at Sarah Palin, who, beneath her $150,000 wardrobe and $28,000 makeup job, is one of the most ignorant, arrogant, divisive, and despicably hypocritical figures in politics right now or ever. You are a better man than this. And you know it.)
It took less than 10 minutes to walk down to my polling place at St. Paul’s Methodist Church, where I’d accompanied Bob’s family to the Boar’s Head Christmas pageant and festival many times in my youth.
And when I got there at 5:45 a.m., I counted 34 people ahead of me in the winding line packed into the atrium — to the point that I couldn’t see around the corner anymore.
A man in front of me said there were already 75 people in line.
(I was hoping to meet and marry a sweet Obama gal, but I was the youngest person there by about 10 years, and I’m not exactly the most spring of chickens at 33. Come on, young people. Get out and vote.)
At 6, they let us into the room they’d set up for voting. Most people didn’t know their precinct, but on a whim I’d brought my voter registration card and was therefore able to jet right over to the table I needed.
I got my ballot — it was the kind where you filled in the circle for the candidate you wanted — and was walking back to my apartment by 6:10, where I hopped in the car, went to Hardee’s, got another Pork Chop & Sausage Gravy Biscuit to reward myself for participating in democracy, and now … we wait.
And while Sarah Palin might tell you that I don’t love America because I don’t agree with her particular brand of hateful filth, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who loves living in this country as much as I do. I have been lucky enough to enjoy some truly dream-come-true opportunities in my life. I have the best family and the best friends a man could ask for. I get to see the best movies and listen to the best music. I am free to tell it how I see it. Do I appreciate that? You’d better believe it.
So, whoever you are and however you vote, make sure you get out there and vote today.
Okay?
Thanks.
And good luck, Barack. You speak to the best in all of us, sir.
Ollie and I cast the 751st ballot at our Slate Run polling location this morning. I was able to keep him from yelling “OBAMA!” while filling out the ballot, and I even remembered to zip up his jacket so that his Obama t-shirt didn’t get us kicked out for electioneering.
Regardless of what happens tonight, in 10 years or so, I’m going to relish being able to tell Ollie that in the first presidential election of his lifetime, his hand was on the pen that marked our vote for Barack Obama.
I’m so excited for my son.
cutest advertisement i have ever seen….. we wont let him down!
Your straight talk with McCain sounded was dead on. I couldn’t agree more.
The picture of Ollie and the Obama sign was perfect. Makes me want to walk Spencer a couple of houses down the block and snap one of my own. (If I could have had one in my own yard, I would have … but had to settle with a bumper sticker in this Republican stronghold.)
Bob! I can just see Ollie helping you vote. Brings a happy tear to my eye. Beautifully said.
Jen: Ladies and gentlemen, my cousin Jen! Thanks for stopping by. It was wonderful seeing you and Reese and Hudson on Sunday.
Kelly: Can’t wait to see your Obama shirt. :) And I’m glad Spencer is having a big election day. We can talk more about it over burgers very soon. Can’t wait for that, either.
YESSSSS
I voted. at my little ghetto public school. toothless ladies finally found my name, Joe NAAAtha, right??
i did the obama dance on the way out. smiling like a little kid. It felt soo fucking good!!
Jonatha Brooke! It’s an honor to see your name here, dear. Way to Barack the vote. :)
I went to pick up my dad this morning so we could go vote (he couldn’t drive because he just had surgery).
Lines weren’t bad, I walked right in, got my ballot and voted. Dad did the same, except he had to talk to people because he knows no less than everyone in town.
I was glad to see that when we got there, around 10:30, there had already been some 400 people come through from our precinct.
I find it funny that I could have voted straight party Libertarian which means I would have voted for only two people.
Oliver for President! :)
You might just be my favorite new blogger, mister. Yay!
You actually touched me a bit with this piece. I’m happy to have rocked the vote for Obama with the likes of people like you.