Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I Voted, Have You?

This early voting stuff is the bomb. There was a fairly decent crowd at our alternate early voting place, across from the courthouse, which is not very handicapped/elderly-friendly. The new place is much easier to get in and out of. We were there at about 1:30 p.m. yesterday and at that hour, all the voting machines were in use, with three or four people ahead of us in line and a few more coming in behind us. I think it is safe to assume that there were only two of us voting for Obama.

I thought that once I had voted, I would just relax and let the chips fall where they may, but the minute I got home, on went the TV so I could see if anything startling had happened while I was out. Whew! I'll be glad when next Wednesday gets here so I can either celebrate or mourn the results. I have a feeling that there will be lawsuits, once again, because the polls may very well be misleading, and the loser, whoever it may be, and his followers, will be convinced that the election was stolen.

There are a few things that bother me about Obama's campaign, I must admit. The amount of money he has collected and spent should have him much farther ahead if it is true that elections can be bought. And, if they can't, then the obscene amount is a waste, and I can't think of a better advertisement for public funding, such as that taken by McCain. I realize that Obama had to campaign all over the country because he didn't have the necessary name recognition, and public financing wouldn't have come close to paying the bills. But, it makes me wonder about our political system.

Another thing that bothers me is that I can't shake the notion that when push comes to shove, many people who have said they were going to vote for Obama will get in front of those voting machines and say to themselves, "Nope. I just can't do it." and will vote for McCain strictly on the color of his skin. This feeling has stayed with me throughout the campaign, and I hope I'm wrong. If I am, I'll say so on my first blog after election day. But, I have to say, even though I supported Obama and voted for him, deep down, I still think that Hillary would have been the best choice, with all her baggage and Bill and his baggage.

There are many things I don't like about the McCain campaign, but the main ones are John McCain and Sarah Palin, and the overall tone of their message. I think they are both the wrong choices for their offices. The John McCain of today has been unrecognizable compared to the John McCain of a few years ago. Many of his longtime friends and colleagues have commented on it, so it's not just me. He has been all over the map with his "secret plans", the idiotic Joe the Plumber farce and his choice of running mate was simply irresponsible. He is living in a dream world if he thinks he's immortal, and look what we're left with if something happens to him.

I'm going to try not to watch as much TV until the weekend, but I can already tell you I'll fail miserably. Why should I stop obsessing just because I voted early?

More rambling later.

11 comments:

Kay Dennison said...

I haven't voted yet and may wait until Tuesday. The lines for early voting are long downtown and since I only live a block away from my polling place, I can check the parking lot at the American Legion and know if I have to wait very long by walking to the end of my front walk. And that I'm off on Tuesday, too, is good.

Margie's Musings said...

I haven't voted yet either. I probably should since our son will be here then with our grandson. That would take the pressure off my having to find a time to go vote.

I will vote for Obama and so will Bob. He is intelligent, articulate, and thoughtful. He doesn't react. He carefully thinks things through. I just read an interview in Time magazine that made me even more positive of my choice.

But I am concerned for him. The McCain camp is getting desperate and are likely to do or say just about anything at the last moment to get him elected. I am looking for that to happen.

Unfortunately so many Americans are just plain stupid. At the beauty shop this morning a woman told me she doubted his being a citizen because she received some FW from the internet that said he was born in Kenya.

I straightened her out and told her to go to FactCheck.com and read up on all her questions.

kenju said...

We voted Monday afternoon. The lines were long, but it only took 20 minutes from the time we got in the line.

Anonymous said...

GOBAMA. I'm an early voter (for the first time ever) and I'm glad I did. Our county is expected to turn out 500,000 similarly inclined people. Every polling place has a line. I think it's good news.

The desperation of the McCain camp is in direct response to how badly they're doing. Don't look at the polls...look at the electoral college website. Those numbers are definite and they're in our favor and growing.

Linda@VS said...

I waited in line about 45 minutes to vote last Friday. Early voting ended yesterday in Louisiana, and our Secretary of State's website today shows Democratic early voters outnumbered Republicans two to one.

As for people who say they're going to vote for Obama backing out at the last minute, I really think it might be the other way around. My thinking is that people who are bothered by Obama's skin color won't say they'll vote for him in the first place. Instead, they'll come up with some perfectly good (though fake) reasons they prefer McCain.

On the other hand, there are plenty of white people here in the Deep South who can't wait to vote for Obama but might not feel comfortable saying so to their uneducated, redneck, beer-swilling neighbors.

I'm hoping a landslide will make a really strong statement.

Joy Des Jardins said...

I voted a couple of weeks ago and it really wasn't bad at all...took about 1/2 hour. My son went yesterday and the lines were awful....out the door awful....the actual voting took only a few minutes. They had added 9 more voting stations since I was there two weeks ago. And to think it STILL is probably better than going on the 4th. I watched Obama's 1/2 hour campaign commercial last night...I thought it was really, really wonderful. I'm also afraid at what could happen as far as the results go Betty...no matter what the polls say now. It's frightening to think our fate depends on the fickle flick of a finger....but it surely does. ~Joy

Darlene said...

I voted by absentee ballot two weeks ago. Everyone should have that option. I think we need a Federal law on voting so all states will have the same system.

I agree, Joy, that the commercial was very professional and inspiring. All we can do now is wait and hope. I would like to ignore the TV also, but am addicted to CNN right now.

Betty said...

kay: I usually prefer to vote on the designated day, but this year, I thought the lines might be too long, and my back wouldn't hold out.

margie: Good for you. I always tell people to check their facts with Snopes, etc., before they spread bad information.

kenju: I'll probably keep on voting early in the future.

apathy lounge: I'm almost embarrassed watching McCain now. He tried to recognize Joe the (not)Plumber at a rally this morning, and Joe wasn't even there.

velvet sacks: I would love to see a landslide.

joy: I watched last night and really enjoyed it, too.

darlene: I also watched the rally in Florida last night - Obama with Bill Clinton. It went well, too, I thought.

Dianne said...

I'm worried about "closet" racists. Very worried.

I want it to be a landslide for Obama, no questions, no BS.

Chancy said...

I voted absentee already here in Georgia.

Go Obama

Chancy said...

I voted absentee already here in Georgia.

Go Obama