Recently, a very insightful story on National Public Radio zeroed in on my county as being the "bellwether" county of the ultimate "swing state."
It's a good article...
"Since 1960, [Wood County] has predicted every election except for one," says Wood County GOP Chairman Matt Reger. "I think that it is a microcosm of Ohio, which in some parts is a microcosm of the United States."
Today was the first day of early voting here in Ohio. After tons of GOP attempts at voter suppression and other chicanery (along with subsequent litigation, some of which is still unresolved, BTW) we are in the "Golden Week" where citizens can go to early voting centers (in our case, the BOE office at the county Courthouse) and register, change or correct registration
AND VOTE. To vote, you sign a form and give EITHER your driver's license number OR just the last four digits of your SSN.
Registration closes at the end of the day on October 9, 2012.
I was in the local hospital over the weekend, but yesterday afternoon, I told them "you've GOT to let me out of here." So the first thing, I headed into Bowling Green and went to court house.
And as fate would have it, I was privileged to be the first person in line when they unlocked the doors at 8:00 AM. By 8:04 I had voted.
A few years back, (2002 or 2003, I think) while visiting a friend in Chicago, he took me to an event and said "I want you to hear this young guy from the state Senate." It was, of course, Barack Obama. He got a big laugh from saying something to the effect of "Some of you are asking 'why didn't I bring Michelle?' That's OK, I understand."
I was really impressed.
In 2004, during the Democratic National Convention, my wife was working second shift and our kids were in early grade school. The keynote address was scheduled for 10:00 PM. Our youngest had conked out for the night but my daughter was still more or less awake.
So I got her out of bed, wrapped up in pillows and quilts and parked her on the couch in front of the Tee Vee.
I told her "You see this guy speaking? One day he'll be the first person of color elected President of the United States."
And now that little girl is grown up and gets to vote for him, herself!