inspiring (?) story from SC
Right-o. So I drove home yesterday (from NC to SC) so I could vote today. I vote in a pretty rural precinct of a county in SC that has been red (Republican) for quite some time. This was also my first time voting in this county/precinct.
I overheard/saw some negative things throughout the day, but I also saw something that really made me hopeful and go "aww" inside.
First, the negative:
In a gas station I heard two senior men talking about voting, and one said he knew he was voting for a long time ago. (I'm going to assume he meant McCain.)
On my way to the precinct voting place, I saw someone flying the American and the Confederate flag pretty prominently in their front yard. I saw A LOT of people wearing (hunting) camo inside the polling place, which I didn't take to be a very good sign. I also saw at least 2 Army men in uniform.
I overheard a lady inside the polling station talking to someone else saying something along the lines of "You know your taxes are going to go up after the election." I assume because she thinks Obama is going to win and she thinks his "socialist" policies will raise taxes on her income group. (I doubt they would. I heard her later say she worked for the county, and I really can't imagine her making more than 250,000/year.)
The positive:
Apparently voter turnout is way up this year. I heard one lady say that when she voted last time, she was the only person there. I heard someone else say that when they came the last time, they too were the only ones at the precinct. To give you some perspective, there was apparently at least a 1-hour wait all day today at this precinct. This morning before the polls opened, the line was out the door and going down the road. At 3-4pm-ish, I had to wait for an hour, and the line was looped around inside the building several times. (They only had 6 voting booths.)
I didn't see many people who I labeled as possible democrats. It seemed like probably 90% of the people there were probably Republicans. I did see a few young people, around 4 African-American women (out of probably 100 or more people who were there when I was there), and one Asian guy who looked young and urban.
The thing that made me really happy:
The African-American woman farthest up in the line was using her cell phone shortly before it was her time to vote. I noticed when she went up to vote, that a young girl who I'm assuming was her daughter came in from outside and joined her at the voting booth. The woman put her arm around the girl, and they both looked into the (electronic) booth. In my happy little mind-world, I'm imagining that the woman called the girl in to witness this historic moment when she got to vote for a black man. Of course, I have no way of knowing who the woman voted for or if that was indeed her motivation for having (her daughter?) come in and watch her vote, but that's what I'd like to think happened. And it made my heart all warm and fuzzy to think it.
I overheard/saw some negative things throughout the day, but I also saw something that really made me hopeful and go "aww" inside.
First, the negative:
In a gas station I heard two senior men talking about voting, and one said he knew he was voting for a long time ago. (I'm going to assume he meant McCain.)
On my way to the precinct voting place, I saw someone flying the American and the Confederate flag pretty prominently in their front yard. I saw A LOT of people wearing (hunting) camo inside the polling place, which I didn't take to be a very good sign. I also saw at least 2 Army men in uniform.
I overheard a lady inside the polling station talking to someone else saying something along the lines of "You know your taxes are going to go up after the election." I assume because she thinks Obama is going to win and she thinks his "socialist" policies will raise taxes on her income group. (I doubt they would. I heard her later say she worked for the county, and I really can't imagine her making more than 250,000/year.)
The positive:
Apparently voter turnout is way up this year. I heard one lady say that when she voted last time, she was the only person there. I heard someone else say that when they came the last time, they too were the only ones at the precinct. To give you some perspective, there was apparently at least a 1-hour wait all day today at this precinct. This morning before the polls opened, the line was out the door and going down the road. At 3-4pm-ish, I had to wait for an hour, and the line was looped around inside the building several times. (They only had 6 voting booths.)
I didn't see many people who I labeled as possible democrats. It seemed like probably 90% of the people there were probably Republicans. I did see a few young people, around 4 African-American women (out of probably 100 or more people who were there when I was there), and one Asian guy who looked young and urban.
The thing that made me really happy:
The African-American woman farthest up in the line was using her cell phone shortly before it was her time to vote. I noticed when she went up to vote, that a young girl who I'm assuming was her daughter came in from outside and joined her at the voting booth. The woman put her arm around the girl, and they both looked into the (electronic) booth. In my happy little mind-world, I'm imagining that the woman called the girl in to witness this historic moment when she got to vote for a black man. Of course, I have no way of knowing who the woman voted for or if that was indeed her motivation for having (her daughter?) come in and watch her vote, but that's what I'd like to think happened. And it made my heart all warm and fuzzy to think it.