I've been a long-time lurker on DKos, since at least early '04...I have always resisted posting (I'm a radio/TV broadcaster and figured I should stay on the sidelines for ethical reasons)...something happened last Tuesday, though, that was exciting, uplifting, and timely, and finally changed my mind about getting on the board.
Except I'd forgotten that there's a week-long waiting period for first-time posts. So I scribbled down some notes, registered, and waited---like a thrilling chase scene in a movie that stalls awkwardly when they end up in a crowded elevator. Or something like that.
To use the lingo, more after the jump.
Anyway, the reason I'm here; I'm a central Virginia resident, and last Tuesday (I might as well be writing about the moon landing) I was thrilled to be able to cast a vote for Barack Obama...Like many here, I was an Edwards supporter (well, actually, an Al Gore and Mark Warner supporter---but, yeah)...I may not be completely sold on Barack Obama the politician, but the fact that people from my generation (I'm 23) are inspired and actually interested in politics is our only chance to restore this country...
So, last Tuesday, I was on my way to the polls, and I stopped at a gas station on my way there....There were maybe a dozen people inside; two older African-American men sitting at a side table (with a couple 40's in paper bags), a 20-something black guy, a young "country girl" (read: redneck) woman with a baby in a carrier, a seemingly affluent middle-aged woman in a business suit, two frat-boy-types buying a case of Natty Lite, a Cliff Clavin-lookalike, and a handful of others...basically, a random collection of people in a town where cultural and racial tensions still exist; people you'd never expect to look each other in the eye, much less carry on a conversation....As I waited in line, though, I overheard the two older men at the table saying something I thought sounded like, "Obama". Eager to talk politics with anyone (especially people from a totally different background), I asked if they had voted yet. One said he had, the other said he was going to as soon as he could find a way there...Then, hearing our conversation, the well-to-do white lady in the business suit turned around, said she had been a big Hillary supporter who was now supporting Obama, and asked the two men with the 40's if they thought that Obama could win.
Then the redneck with the baby chimes in and says, in a thick southern accent, "I hope he does...I voted for him."
Cliff Clavin turns around and says that he just left the polls after voting for Obama (first time he's ever voted for a Democrat).
The young African-American man speaks up, and says that he hadn't voted because he didn't think we were ready to elect a black man---but he thinks he might be wrong, now...
Even the two frat boys join in, and start talking about how one of them went to the Jefferson-Jackson dinner to watch him speak, etc., etc., and how they got their friends to vote...
We all stood there talking politics for a solid five minutes; a bunch of people from opposite walks of life, in the middle of a "red" state, bonded together by Barack Obama. By the time we left, the well-to-do woman had offered a ride to the polls (in her Mercedes) to the older black guy in the white t-shirt, and the younger guy changed his mind and decided to go vote....
Incredible...and, hopefully, worth a 9-day wait...
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Update...thanks to all for your comments and recs; again, could you imagine this set of circumstances unfolding because of John McCain (other than maybe at a retirement home in Utah)? Again, it proves that, when presented as an alternative (finally), hope trumps fear...Some of you were suggesting I send this in as an op-ed or to the campaign---I'm not really inclined to do that myself, but since it was asked below, what I may do is record an extended version of the story as an audio/video podcast (I have a studio in my house, so that's not a big deal) and stick it up here sometime next week...then you all can do with it what you will...it might be cool if we could get lots of people doing that, if they have stories similar to this