Who's done early voting?

With the last week of campaign insanity upon us, I am looking forward to the end. I don't want to see one more commercial. I don't want to see one more "toll free number" or "unknown caller" show up on my Caller ID. I want some peace and quiet to come back into my life, however, there is one area where I'm not sure I want that and that is when I vote.

Grizzled has been telling me I should cast my vote early. He did, but he's an election judge and expects to be extra busy that day. He's been warning me of long lines and huge crowds. The news has been saying the same. While I don't necessarily like to waste time standing in line, I don't feel that this time will be a waste and part of me truly wants to be amidst the throng of people who are also coming out to cast a vote for a different path.

I can be very cynical, but I am feeling ever so slightly hopeful. I know there are those of you who say Obama is more of the same, just in a different package. I'm sorry, but I have to believe that's not true. I have to hope there is at least a shred that is different. I have to hope that with a possible majority in the House and Senate and a possible President with the same views, we might actually be able to make some changes. We might even be able to be in on the changes instead of being fed a line of crap and told it's for our own good.

I can hope. I do hope. I want to be fully immersed in the sea of hope and change on Election Day. I want to be present when the door closes on our nasty and shameful past 8 years and a new one opens to possibilities. I'm ready to stand in line, no matter how long it takes, and when I cast my vote, I'll probably be blubbering. I cry for people pulling over for an emergency vehicle, something they have to do, I'm sure I'll cry for this. They will be happy, hopeful tears though and not tears of frustration and anger.

I hope for change.

Comments

[Amy]

I LOVE voting on election day - I would not vote early....except that I live in Oregon, and we are 100% vote by mail. So, I've voted. And mailed. I really do miss going to the polls, though, so I completely understand what you're saying.

Also - YAY! for hope!

[Jennifer]

Amy- I'll take you with me in spirit!

And yes, YAY! for hope!

[almostinfamous]

hooray for hope, and i do hope that if/when the Big O is elected he does actually change things. you wont find me holding my breath, but i do still hope :)

[rotten mcdonald]

I'm waiting until election day too, lines be damned. They'll mostly be Obama voters too, so we'll all have a rockin good time. Amy, feel free to tag along in spirit here, too.

I can kind of see the people who might say that Obama is pretty much a standard-issue Democrat (although I can't fathom saying that if you've seen one of his speeches) but if you think the Dems and Reps are the same, you haven't been paying attention to the election at all, let alone the last eight years and don't get me started on the last twenty-eight. Reaganism has died of self-inflicted wounds, like a strung out meth addict expiring on a stained mattress squatting in a foreclosed McMansion... I can't respect, or even talk to, someone who seriously says that Obama and McCain are the same kind (and incidentally, KWB got a couple of those infesting RoD).

I thought about being a poll worker this year too, but got my act together too late. My wife is doing some GOTV for the Obama camp this weekend.

Obama is more conservative than I am, and that doesn't bother me too much. Stepping back from the cliff is enough this year.

[Brando]

No early voting in Mooseville, so I have to wait in line with the beavers and bears next week.

Election Day really should be a national holiday.

I'm excited by the prospect of an Obama victory, but genuinely nervous about what it will do to my sense of humor. I had no trouble poking fun at Clinton (I was at Second City toward the tail end of his term), but there was so much water in that well. Obama's a harder nut to crack, especially compared to Senator Crankypants and Governor Fargo.

[Snag]

My precinct trends Republican most years and I always enjoy standing in line with my neighbors, getting in screaming matches, being escorted out by the police. Pretty much what you'd expect from me. I always hold it together long enough to vote, though. This year, I can't wait.

[Jennifer]

Snag- will you be wearing your pirate costume??

Brando- I hope you're not inundated with snow by then and are unable to get out of the house! Do you own a Sno-Cat yet???

Sing it, RM!

aif- I'm hopeful that your hope won't be deflated.

[Von]

I love this post. I really do. I've already anticipated my own tears when I go to vote, and I'm not embarrassed to say it.

[Jennifer]

Von- We'll be crying together and Cheap Trick will be playing in the background!

FYI- there's another meme for you to steal posted down below should you so choose.

Also... BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[almostinfamous]

Election Day really should be a national holiday.

you know what, i really don't understand why it isn't. even state elections are holidays here.

[Dan Leo]

Jen, I'm so pessimistic about politics that to me it isn't pessimism, it's "realism", and although I have my doubts about the O-Man, especially his seeming willingness to continue our role as the Roman Empire of the 21st Century, nevertheless I fully intend to be first in line at the polls on election day, voting straight D all the way down the line.

[Kathleen in Oakland]

Snag will be wearing his giant bottle of bourbon costume.

[Kathleen in Oakland]

Election Day really should be a national holiday.

Word. I repeat this like a broken record and annoy everyone I know.

[Snag]

Snag will be wearing his giant bottle of bourbon costume.

Other way around. The giant bottle of bourbon will be wearing its Snag costume.

[Kathleen in Oakland]

The giant bottle of bourbon will be wearing its Snag costume.

Win.

[rotten mcdonald]

I really have to schedule a Lost Weekend with Sang.

[mdh]

Jennifer, I have decided to postpone a few major life choices until Nov. 5.

I hope too.