Senator Obama held a rally in Orlando yesterday to coincide with the first day of early voting in Florida. Although there were 50,000 people at the rally, Obama’s supporters were also out at the voting booths, too. Mid afternoon I received an email from a friend who lives in Orlando and had decided to vote early. She assumed that mid day, when people are at work, would be a good time to vote as there wouldn’t be any lines or waiting. Wrong. She couldn’t even find a parking space in the large strip parking lot. There was also a long line snaking out of the front door, down a block and around the corner. She drove up to those near the back of the line and asked how long the wait was. To her amazement they said an hour and a half at which point she went back home.A few hours later I was on the phone with another friend who was driving to his home in an affluent suburban area north of Orlando. He, too, planned to stop off and vote that afternoon. Just as I was relaying what happened to my other friend he interrupted me. Turns out, that even in this higher income suburb, people were out early to vote. The library parking lot was full, people were parking all over the place and there was even a policeman helping direct all the traffic. Needless to say, this friend also gave up on voting yesterday.
In her email, my first friend observed that in the downtown voting area the long line was made up of primarily African Americans and Hispanics. I can only imagine that for them, voting for the first African American for President must be a joyous and exciting occasion. Actually I can’t really imagine how it must feel. To know that you or your father or grandfather had been subjected to degrading and sometimes violent racism and now you are voting to elect a black man as the next president. Wow. Whites were always told that anything is possible in America. Blacks are now finding out that the same is really true for them, too.
If I were black I would vote for Obama, even if I didn’t completely agree with his politics. Why? Because I would want my children to know that they can grow up to be President if they wanted to. I believe that the second or third time that an African American is up for election everyone will be more inclined to vote based on politics. But this first time? Blacks relate to him as family, as a man who will understand what it is like to be black in America and will speak for them. (Ironically, in the Middle East and then Hawaii, Obama rarely faced the racial problems found elsewhere in America but that doesn’t seem to matter.) In spite of what Colin Powell or anyone else says this presidential race is about race and yet I don’t think it is necessarily racist. I think it is more akin to voting for your favorite Uncle even if you didn’t completely agree with his politics. But he is family, someone more like you than any other past president so yes, you would vote for him and then believe he will help you out in return.
One can assume with nearly 100% accuracy that a black man standing in line to vote will cast
his vote for Obama. Then there is the white guy standing in line amidst a sea of black faces. No wonder there have been altercations regarding wearing clothing with political slogans and names when going to vote. In many states it is illegal to campaign near a voting booth therefore wearing a t-shirt that says Obama may not be allowed. However, I don’t blame the wearer of such clothing, especially if it is a white person. If, in a line full of exuberant African Americans, I was one of the few whites then I, too, would want to wear my Obama t-shirt to proudly show I was with them. On the other hand if I were planning to vote for McCain I would probably feel somewhat intimidated, especially if I were elderly as many of McCain’s supporters are.
I worry that many Republicans will turn around and go home when faced with long lines just as my friends did. However, I am sure both of my friends will try again until they do vote (although ironically they will cancel each other out). But I wonder how many other people will become discouraged by these long lines even during this early voting period? I also imagine that there are a lot of Republicans who aren’t all that fond of McCain to begin with, who are put off by the long lines, who perhaps even feel a bit intimidated by them and who believe the polls that Obama was going to win anyway. How many of these Republicans will eventually give up and go home?
The only hope McCain has is if he has the kind of grass roots support that Obama has. For he will need supporters who will encourage and help his voters go and stay in lines, perhaps for more than an hour, in order to cast their votes for him otherwise it could be a landslide victory
for Obama.
In her email, my first friend observed that in the downtown voting area the long line was made up of primarily African Americans and Hispanics. I can only imagine that for them, voting for the first African American for President must be a joyous and exciting occasion. Actually I can’t really imagine how it must feel. To know that you or your father or grandfather had been subjected to degrading and sometimes violent racism and now you are voting to elect a black man as the next president. Wow. Whites were always told that anything is possible in America. Blacks are now finding out that the same is really true for them, too.
If I were black I would vote for Obama, even if I didn’t completely agree with his politics. Why? Because I would want my children to know that they can grow up to be President if they wanted to. I believe that the second or third time that an African American is up for election everyone will be more inclined to vote based on politics. But this first time? Blacks relate to him as family, as a man who will understand what it is like to be black in America and will speak for them. (Ironically, in the Middle East and then Hawaii, Obama rarely faced the racial problems found elsewhere in America but that doesn’t seem to matter.) In spite of what Colin Powell or anyone else says this presidential race is about race and yet I don’t think it is necessarily racist. I think it is more akin to voting for your favorite Uncle even if you didn’t completely agree with his politics. But he is family, someone more like you than any other past president so yes, you would vote for him and then believe he will help you out in return.One can assume with nearly 100% accuracy that a black man standing in line to vote will cast
his vote for Obama. Then there is the white guy standing in line amidst a sea of black faces. No wonder there have been altercations regarding wearing clothing with political slogans and names when going to vote. In many states it is illegal to campaign near a voting booth therefore wearing a t-shirt that says Obama may not be allowed. However, I don’t blame the wearer of such clothing, especially if it is a white person. If, in a line full of exuberant African Americans, I was one of the few whites then I, too, would want to wear my Obama t-shirt to proudly show I was with them. On the other hand if I were planning to vote for McCain I would probably feel somewhat intimidated, especially if I were elderly as many of McCain’s supporters are.I worry that many Republicans will turn around and go home when faced with long lines just as my friends did. However, I am sure both of my friends will try again until they do vote (although ironically they will cancel each other out). But I wonder how many other people will become discouraged by these long lines even during this early voting period? I also imagine that there are a lot of Republicans who aren’t all that fond of McCain to begin with, who are put off by the long lines, who perhaps even feel a bit intimidated by them and who believe the polls that Obama was going to win anyway. How many of these Republicans will eventually give up and go home?
The only hope McCain has is if he has the kind of grass roots support that Obama has. For he will need supporters who will encourage and help his voters go and stay in lines, perhaps for more than an hour, in order to cast their votes for him otherwise it could be a landslide victory
for Obama. And yet, I almost worry more about the process then the results. Already there are all these problems about invalid voters, fraudulent practices and lawsuits. I truly hope that the combination of McCain supporters, Obama supporters, ACORN workers, “independent” observers and of course the media looking for a story doesn’t turn our election process into a sham and our voting precincts into battlefields.
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