The wife and I arrived at our polling place soon after it opened at 7:00. A line stretched out the door. Voting took us 45 minutes — about 10 times longer than it has taken in either of the previous 2 elections (2006 and 2004) at this polling place.
Back in January, after the Iowa Caucus, I wrote about why I thought Obama’s win mattered.
On Super Tuesday in February, I posted my reasons for supporting Obama.
Regular readers of this particular journal will be well aware of the twists and turns of the election, and my opinions regarding them — as I was never shy about speaking my mind regarding the issues over the past year. I hope that my stream-of-consciousness ramblings brought some issues to your attention, and maybe even helped sway a few opinions (I can hope).
I’ll be glued to exit polling and election coverage most of the day. And celebrating tonight, if it goes the way it’s looking.
4 years ago, after Kerry lost, I wrote:
“I don’t feel like I belong here any more–not with 46% of Americans (according to a December 2001 poll) self-identifying as “Born Again.” There are times, and last night was one of them, where I feel like we’re at most 10-15 years away from a right-wing Christian theocracy in this country.
I can’t leave, though. If I packed up, I could take my oldest daughter with me, but my two youngest live with their Mom, and that keeps me here. So, I am instead left with the words of Tolkien’s Aragorn:
“We must do without hope. At least we may yet be avenged. Let us gird ourselves, and weep no more. We have a long road, and much to do.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Book II, Chapter VI.
We did without hope…. and then we discovered that what we had to do, on that long road, was to re-discover that lost hope. Because, in the end, that’s what has driven this election — not the oft-used slogan of “Change,” although that was surely a part — but Hope. Hope for a better nation, and hope for a better world.
Here’s hoping.
I leave you with this. The lyrics make no sense, of course, but the title is appropriate: