I voted today. I know this because I have a little sticker the poll worker gave me that says, "I voted."
Of course, they gave my 23-month-old daughter one as well. To be fair, she was in the booth with me and is the only other person who knows how I filled out my ballot. But I think the historical importance of what she did is lost on her.
Nonetheless, that was what struck me as I went to the polls today: Seeing the number of parents with young children going in there.
Now granted, maybe they didn't have other childcare options. And perhaps my parenting radar is up due to the fact I have kids now. But perhaps they, like my wife and I, grasped the importance and the privilege we have of voting and wanted to show their children.
One of my big gripes in past elections has been voter turnout. Now granted, there have been enough irregularities to raise more than an eyebrow the last two elections.
But at the same time, half of the people in this country consistently don't vote every four years.
Yes, we should bitch - LOUDLY - about those who want to vote and can't.
At the same time, I'm sick of hearing people complain about all the calls they receive (and I live in a big-time battleground state, so I've probably gotten as many, if not more, calls than anybody.). Especially today, where I bet there are a handful of calls already on the home answering machine asking if I needed a ride to the polls.
YOU KNOW WHAT: MAYBE IF PEOPLE TOOK THE F-ING TIME TO GO VOTE, WE WOULDN'T NEED ALL THESE REMINDERS!
Come on. Just go vote. Take it seriously for a change. Be a part of history.
(Editor's note, Nov. 6: Why didn't I end this with: "Go get your sticker." I hate thinking of that two days later.)
-JDE2
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3 comments:
You said it!
In a country where people's patriotism is constantly being judged (and found lacking for the most bizarre of reasons), where if you take a sip of beer during the national anthem at a ballgame you're considered a terrorist, less than half the people turn out to do the one most fundamentally patriotic thing they can do as Americans stymies me.
Yesterday's turnout was fantatstic -- but still, nearly a third of registered voters didn't vote.
My faith in American voters was lifted immeasurably yesterday and honestly I don't mean because most of them apparently agreed with my choice. Here in Redneck Central (don't call me John Murtha), turnout at Goose Creek (S.C.) High School was tremendous. I arrived at 7:55 a.m. and voted at 11:35 a.m. In between I met lots of fellow South Carolinians, none of whom ever seriously complained about the wait. Sure there was some good natured grumbling about the lack of waiter service, but from the 9-months pregnant woman who worried she'd deliver before she voted and the twentysomething African American girl who said the process could take all day as far as she was concerned - she'd gotten the day off just for this, there was such a sense of how important a privilege it is to be able to vote. Nobody ever talked about for whom they were voting, the 50-year-old white guy wearing camouflage pants and a Desert Storm T-shirt held the place in line for the 35-year-old black woman wearing hot pink earrings, who needed to use the restroom. Call me a sappy liberal, but it was a day of celebration. Even before the vote was finished being counted.
We didn't get stickers at our polling place ... just a new president.
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