Sorry I didn’t post last night. It was a one thing after another kind of day, and right when things looked like they were going to calm down enough for me to write a post, I was reminded that the last day of early primary voting was not March 1st, as I thought, but February 29th. So I hopped on my bike and went down to campus to vote there, and was shocked, seriously, to see that there was an enormous line. I’d never waited in line to vote. Never. True, it was the last day and I’m usually not so tardy, but I ducked into the same building on the last day of early voting in October 2004, and the lines were not nearly this bad. I had to wait 45 minutes to an hour to vote. Part of the problem, it seems, was not that there weren’t enough booths, but there was a bottleneck signing people in, even though there were tons of volunteers. The bottleneck? The Democratic primary sign-up sheets. I think I saw one guy out of dozens vote Republican. The kid waiting in line in front of me, when asked his party affiliation, said, “Well, I’m a Republican but I want to vote in the Democratic primary.” (Which you can do in Texas; you don’t have a formal party affiliation.)
I don’t want to make too much of this, of course. I was standing in what’s quite likely the bluest line in early voting polling in the state. Apparently, the wait downtown was 30 minutes, for the same reason—that no one wanted to vote Republican, but again, we’re talking downtown Austin, which might as well be downtown New York for all that it’s Democratic. As for the kid, thinking you’re a Republican who is just crossing over just this once, or twice, or three times, because you were raised to think that you’re practically betraying your family if you vote Democratic, well, that’s practically a tradition. Eventually you give in and admit you’re a Democrat. By the time you’re in your mid-20s, your family comes to terms with it. Happened to me, happened to my first cousin. It used to be that way with the parties flipped, from what I understand, but with less youthful flipping.
With all those caveats in place, I left the place singing like the big fan of democracy that I am. People were talking excitedly about the chance to caucus, too. By the time I got home, it was dinner time and we had furniture we had to rearrange, and I didn’t have a chance to do much else but moderate comments. But I was stoked. I bet a huge percentage, like a quarter to maybe even half of the voters on campus were first-time voters (suspicion confirmed by who had to get instructions on how to vote), and it was neat that they had a chance to do this during what’s actually a nail-biter of an election for Texans. We rarely matter, and by “we”, I mean any one individual Democratic Austinite. You go vote, push the button for your Democratic candidates, knowing the locally elected will win and everyone else will lose your state. In the last election, voting for Kerry was invoking an impotent rage, because you knew that it was a truly symbolic gesture, and you needed to be able to make a real gesture in such an important election. But now, we have a real chance to really impact the presidential election. It’s exciting.
26 Responses to “Voting sucks up time; blogger delighted”
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I find voting exciting…I wish I could get my friends fired up about it, but they’re pretty apathetic about voting in general. I remember being 18 and absolutely ecstatic that I could vote. My parents thought it was funny, but they were proud too. I still think it’s that exciting.
I really wish a whole lot more people thought that way, although this time around, it seems like there’s more people who are excited about voting.
“You really are pathetic.”
Benny, you are SO right!
The idiotic way that Amanda has obsessed over the DLX incident, dedicating every waking moment to finding an opportunity, no matter how slim, to bring the topic up again - a topic which is none of her business and doesn’t concern her in the least, the inability to just let something go and move on with her life. That REALLY IS the very definition of “pathetic”…
…oh wait! It’s NOT Amanda Marcotte that has seized on one complex legal situation and made bitching about it the centerpiece of her existence - it’s IDIOTS LIKE BENJAMIN!!!
Amanda actually HAS a life outside of obsessing over a single legal case. She HAS a book coming out soon, has writing gigs at other blogs, and has taken setbacks, such as unmerited attacks by assholes like Bill Donohue, and turned them into the spur for new and greater success.
OTOH, a guy like “Benjamin” apparently has no other compelling reason to live than to come on Amanda’s blog and bitch about something she said a long time ago.
Comparing Amanda to you, I wonder who comes off as more pathetic?…
…and I’m glad to see that the bunnies are not on permanent hiatus…
I’d suggest not feeding the troll, but you seem to have stumbled onto that nut’s psychology, Mike. I post about how busy I am—how happy and full my day yesterday was, and he lost it. Also, he’s been banned before, so he’s so pathetic that he’s ISP jumping in order to leave stupid comments. Who has that kind of time? Not anyone that can get people to have sex with you because they want to.
“I post about how busy I am—how happy and full my day yesterday was, and he lost it.”
The rest of us are happy for you. I guess knowing there are idiotic dicks out there who aren’t just makes being happy taste that much sweeter…
:)
Now I’m like awash in pity. I mean, my life is pretty boring. At the end of the day, I’m still someone who gets all excited to vote. Begrudging someone a day of voting and doing chores and working is the sign that you’re really a malcontent with nothing going on.
On topic…
I have to say, as scary as the possibility of another Rethug win is, I’m really excited about having the opportunity to vote in November.
It may be a small matter in the scheme of things, but it’s cathartic in a way.
Voting in the first California Primary that mattered IN MY LIFETIME, was a big thing too.
I guess as much as I’m disappointed with the weakness of the Left, and disgusted by the rottenness of the Reichwing, the US is still my country, and I still care.
My love may be unrequited, but it’s still undiminished…
As for the kid, thinking you’re a Republican who is just crossing over just this once, or twice, or three times, because you were raised to think that you’re practically betraying your family if you vote Democratic, well, that’s practically a tradition.
It’s also possible that the Republican kid was crossing over to vote for candidate he thinks will be easier for McCain to beat. Or just to keep the Democratic primary going longer & continue to suck up resources that the eventual Democratic candidate could be using on the general election.
Based on what you said, I don’t have any reason to say that was his motivation, but it seems like a possibility.
ps: I get excited about voting too. Too bad I live in North Carolina where the primary is so late.
Contrary to the common media perception I think it is great that the primary season is going on so long. It means that more people in more states are having to go out and have heated debates and really figure out which candidate best represents their interests.
I also think it gives people some ownership over the party and the candidate they pick. Living in Washington the nominee was normally sewed up and only those politically connected went to the primaries. This time lots of people went and I know a lot of people that volunteered time and money to their various candidates as well because they got the sense that it mattered. Come fall I think a lot of those people will still be doing the work but for the general because they have connections to the campaign and with people inside of it.
Hey. My sister lives in Wichita Falls, TX, and she said the same exact thing: The lines were long, and most people were voting Democrat.
Lines in Houston were extremely long as well; I stopped by and was told the wait was between 1.5 and 2 hours.
I didn’t have that kind of time so I’ll swing by on Tuesday when it’ll be a lot shorter; not many D’s in my precinct. (Mostly firstgen immigrants and pissy li’l yuppie trash who think they ought not to have to live among such people…)
Amanda, are you going to tell us who you voted for? If I remember correctly, you endorsed Edwards.
I’m so excited to vote on Tuesday! (I live in Ohio, and while we do have early voting, it’s only at the county BOE; it’s easier for me to just walk the one block to my polling place.)
I was talking with my Republican dad the other day, and he said he might cross over and vote Clinton as an Obama spoiler.
I said, “That’s cool, but you know you’ll be a registered Democrat for the next four years, then.”
He made a face and said he’d probably vote for Huckabee. (He really, really doesn’t want to vote McCain.)
Somewhat slightly kinda mostly on topic: In Dallas, the Obama rally garnered 17,000 attendees — not a typo. Bill Clinton, a-pimpin’ and a-hustlin’? 200 attendees. Again, not a typo.
File under “Writing Seen on the Wall.”
Happy for y’all.
You deserve it…finally.
Similar proportions in the turnouts for Obama and Clinton rallies in Houston. Also, I think the long lines are everywhere in Texas, with lots of first-time primary voters. I was pushing cards for Noriega in Houston and Dems were waiting over an hour.
What you said about being a Democrat in Austin is, I think, the same for being a Democrat in most urban areas in red states. I’m thinking about Houston and our Democratic mayor, controller, and majority Dem city council (not to mention Ellen Cohen, Scott Hochberg, Sheila Jackson Lee, etc.), but our representation in the Senate is Cornyn/Hutchison.
Wow, you’ve never waited in line before? I live in (north) Austin and in 2004 at Randall’s (183 & Braker) the wait was 30 minutes.
I also went Friday, again to the same Randalls - and this time the wait was 90+ minutes. The line had snaked around in the manner of theme parks inside, then overflowed outside by another 50 or 60 people. This was at 3:45, before most people were off work, too, and not during lunch hour or anything. They had a representative come out and tell everyone they could go to other locations which were less busy, so I went to the Shriner’s hall off Anderson Lane and only had to wait 25 minutes.
There were sample ballots you could look at while waiting in line, to mentally make your choices beforehand. There was a small stack of Republican ballots, and only one Democratic one - which couldn’t be taken, or else they’d run out.
That didn’t prevent someone from filling it out, though - and whoever did that filled in the box for Obama.
There have been a lot of those switches in my extended family in the past few years, but they’ve all be in the opposite direction. My mom’s family were all serious dems (grandpa idolized FDR), but lately my aunts and uncles have been switching to republican. There are only a few of us holdouts left, including my immediate family, a few cousins, and my oldest uncle, with me and the uncle being the lonely crazy leftists, even among the holdouts. The rest are very catholic and very conservative on the social issues. It’s all about keeping down women and gays for most of them. Kind of sucks being related to a bunch of bigots, but I do love them (we don’t discuss politics at family reunions, but we do drink a lot).
However, I’m pretty excited to vote on Tuesday as well. it’ll be the first time that I’ve ever been involved in a primary that wasn’t already decided (I grew up in WV, which has the dem primary in May, and now I live in Ohio).
It’s so exciting that people are excited to vote!
In volunteering at the RI Obama office, I was surprised to see how many independents (who said they usually voted Republican) are really excited about voting for Obama for President and not just as a spoiler.
In terms of the time it takes to vote, a Rhode Island state representative has introduced a bill to close polls an hour earlier. *One hour earlier* Seriously - 1 hour *earlier*!
His rationale is that it would be more convenient for the poll workers and we’d get to see the results sooner.
WTF!?
http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/news/pr1.asp?prid=4733
Actually, most of the Republicans are voting Obama because they want to drive a stake through Clinton’s heart. Come the fall, they’re going to switch right back to McCain.
I’m in Denton and always early vote because there’s never a wait. Got a ride home from work Friday, was going to have him wait while I popped in and voted. The line was out the door. A friend waited more than an hour. I didn’t want to leave my ride hanging, so I guess I get to come stand in line on the 4th. I’ve never felt like my Texas primary vote counted, and it’s seriously exhilarating.
I line in south Harris County, TX. I went out Thursday to vote and there were maybe 150+ people in line at the library to vote. I didn’t have that kind of time, so I went back early on Friday morning. There were already 30-40 people in line at that time. I got in and out in about 1/2 hour. When I went past after lunch, the line was huge. Probably 1000+ people in the line.
I forgot to notice, though, what the party split was. But the Clear Lake area seems to still be a kool-aid drinking area, so I would guess a lot were still voting republican.
Clinton team is going to pull another Nevada shenanigan. alert
http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=A21A28C4528902906E3C9915D28FC1C1?diaryId=5227
Clinton Caucus Disruption/Vote Suppression
by: Glenn Smith
Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 10:06 PM CST
The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Clinton campaign training materials regarding Tuesday night’s caucuses ominously advise supporters to take control of caucus sign-in sheets and vote tallies especially “if our supporters are outnumbered.”
[Clinton caucus training material] goes on to say, “If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness.
“The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions.”
Now there can be only one purpose in trying to control the tally of votes under circumstances in which a campaign knows it’s outnumbered, that it will lose an honest counting of the votes: to alter the true vote. To cheat. To steal. To suppress the votes of Texas caucus attendees and subvert the caucus process.
The phrase, “if our supporters are outnumbered,” means, in simpler language, “If we lose the vote, take control of the vote tally and change the numbers.”
Place this alongside the Clinton campaign threats to challenge the Texas caucuses and you get a full picture of what Clinton is up to: disrupt the caucuses at all costs. Steal votes, delay the reporting of honest vote totals, throw the process into chaos, do whatever it takes.
Right there with you, as a South Carolina Democrat. The high point of my career thus far was putting a Democrat in as Superintendent of Schools.
Until this January, that is.
Eek, squashed. Not sure what to do about that.
Long lines at the downtown Dallas early voting last week, mostly black voters (I was the lone honky when I went). In the Hall of Records, no less, where there’s still a vestigial “Whites Only” sign carved into the marble above the water fountain. I think my Gobama vote may have been bolstered.