Another Election Over

Nov. 8, 2016

I woke up on Election Day, excited to vote and excited to watch the results come in that night. I went to bed considerably more despondent.

Paul, voting Libertarian, was confident he would be disappointed in the outcome of the election. By contrast, I was feeling optimistic with my vote for Clinton. But the polls were wrong.

I'm still coming to terms with the idea of a President Trump. I've voted for losing presidential candidates before, but it's never taken me so long to get over it. Differences of opinion, I said then. I can't get over the thought that this runs deeper.

In any case, I wish our country the best. Please prove my predictions wrong.

Politics as Unusual

I went to a Democratic rally in my neighborhood on Sunday. The primary reason was because several members of the West Wing cast were going to be speaking, and how could I resist? It was my favorite TV show back in the day -- and still among the top of my all-time favorite shows -- so of course I had to see Josh, CJ, Toby and several others. IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. And just in someone's backyard! I mean I HAD to! But I digress.

Bradley Whitford!

Allison Janney!

In a Clintonville backyard!

And Edith too!

My rally visit had an ulterior motive. I wanted to get a Hillary Clinton yard sign. If we are friends on Facebook, you probably know that my husband supports Gary Johnson and posted his own sign in our yard a few weeks ago. I'm OK with Johnson and support several of his ideals, but I'll be voting for Clinton. I was (and still am) totally fine with the Johnson sign in front of our house, but I began feeling uncomfortable that others would presume I was a Johnson supporter as well.

Honestly, if that Johnson sign wasn't there, I probably wouldn't have posted a Clinton one either. In fact, I think Paul supports Johnson more than I support Clinton. But the suffragette in me wants to make it clear that politics isn't exclusively the husband's domain. I don't want to be the quiet dormouse that sits by silently while others assume they know what's important to me.

Paul is understandably disappointed that his sign loses some of its potency with mine next to it. But I guess that's the point. Hooray democracy.

Election Campaigning in New York

New York -- surprise, surprise -- is not a swing state.

Neither President Obama nor Mitt Romney come here to make big speeches, volunteer in a soup kitchen or shake hands. Well, they probably do plenty of the latter, but likely only at $1,000-plate fundraising dinners.

We don't see commercials, we don't get mailings and we don't have a land line, so we don't get phone calls. No volunteers knock on our doors, and yards sprout surprisingly few signs for the presidential candidates.

Local candidates, however, are a different story. It seems like I throw out a different mailing every other day. And it's probably even worse because Paul and I have different party affiliations, so we get something from everyone.

I try to make an educated vote for these state and congressional seats, but it's difficult when I read so many stories in the newspaper about how so-and-so has done such-and-such shady deal.

But thanks to these mailings and yard signs, I know their names almost as well as Obama and Romney. And while I know how my vote will be cast for president, I now have only a little more than a week to decide who to choose for these other races. Happily, there will be no robocalls to "help."

Election Day: Christmas Arrives Early

Tuesday felt a bit like Christmas morning. All excitement, anticipation. And when the election was finally called for Obama, I felt like I got everything I asked for.

It's odd to actually be endorsing a candidate. As a journalist it is strictly forbidden to publicly support any candidate, whether for county commission or President of the United States. No taking telephone polls, no signs in the yard, and no signing petitions.

But this election cycle I could tell anyone who would listen that I would be voting for Obama. Not that too many people asked. If you live in New York, especially New York City, it's pretty much assumed that you're a Democrat.

Our neighborhood is conservative, however, so Paul fits right in. While Paul didn't vote for Obama, he also didn't vote for McCain. He cast one of the approximately 17 votes for Libertarian candidate Bob Barr. OK, maybe that estimate is a little low. But Paul long supported Ron Paul, and even McCain circa 2000.

Our polling place is only a block from our apartment, in a gymnasium at the local Lutheran preschool. We anticipated a long line, so we decided to vote together, hoping to pass the time with conversation, in iPod and a couple of books. No need. We had absolutely no line, which was a pleasant surprise.

Of course, we were glued to the TV the rest of the night and only went to bed after watching Obama's victory speech. It all seemed very reminiscent of "Evita," didn't it? I kept expecting the crowds in Chicago to chant "O-ba-ma, O-ba-ma," while he breaks out into "Don't cry for me, US voters." He might have been able to pull it off.

Three Days 'til E-Day

Tuesday, of course, is Election Day, and I can't wait. Yes, it's a foregone conclusion that New York will go to Obama, but it's fun to see my home state in the spotlight from 600 miles away.

Early on it was apparent that Ohio would once again be a swing state, but who could have anticipated that Joe the Plumber would (unfortunately) become a spokesman for all of us Buckeyes? And while a visit by a presidential candidate to New York City is barely noted, I had fun reading the coverage of McCain's visit to Defiance earlier this week.

Paul still seems to be on the voter rolls in Ohio, and the only robocalls we've gotten have been from the Ohio Republican Party. In fact, he's gotten about a half-dozen absentee-ballot-request forms in the mail. From Ohio. We've gotten no party mailings or phone calls in New York, aside from a few polls about candidates for Congress.

I've heard that the lines will be long in Ohio, and I'm curious to see what it will be like here-- no early voting in New York.

Super Tuesday times two

I'll be the first to admit that I only watch about two-- if that-- NFL games per year. And I watch the Super Bowl just as much for the commercials as for the game.

Nevertheless, it was pretty exciting around here when the Giants won last night. People piled out of the nearby bars, hollering and chanting. Cars were honking for hours after the game ended. By about 10:30, I was almost wishing the Giants would've lost. Still, I'm pretty accustomed to the noise now, and it didn't even keep me up last night.

The ticker-tape parade for the Giants is at 11 a.m. tomorrow and will pass about a block from where I work. One of my co-workers said people will start lining the streets at midnight tonight. Our supervisor gave us all letters today that say where we work in case we have trouble with the authorities and getting through the crowds. Hopefully we won't need them.

Of course, tomorrow is primary day in New York as well. A story from the Associated Press speculated that the parade will hurt Obama's chances here because his supporters tend to share the same demographics as people who would celebrate the win. Probably won't make a difference-- Hillary's up in the polls anyway.