Image courtesy of C.Cal.Shoot
This is kind of odd, writing my post for the day after the election, on the day OF the election. I generally write my posts the day before and then schedule them to publish at 3am EST the following day. But this process feels a little awkward because I have no idea what the outcome will be as I write these words, and I am certainly unsure of your mood today. But anyhoo…
I must say that we still have a great country! Not necessarily the politicians, but the people. Those who make up the grit of this great nation are the ones I’m proud of.
So my wife and I went in fairly early. The voting for us took place at the local elementary school. As we got closer to the entrance, we started to see the candidate’s signs littering both sides of the road. “Oh look. More signs. Yeah…” (I’ve had my fill of signs for at least another 4 years.) We then proceeded to make our way into the building to cast our concerns.
We the people…
One of the great things about voting in the US is the fact that it is done locally. And I’m not talking ‘City local’, but ‘neighborhood local’.
We instantly recognized two of the people helping with the voting process. One was a woman from our neighborhood; she was checking ID’s with voter registrations. The other was a man that also lived nearby (a consulting client, actually), who was helping people in the voting booths. So not only were we taking part in our ‘right to request a candidate’, but we were interacting with those in our local community. It is in these moments when I realize that we really ARE the lifeblood of this nation. After placing our votes and getting our cute little red, white and blue stickers as a proclamation of participation, we went on our way.
Now what?
The hardest part about election day, for me, is the waiting process. I mean, you’d think that with today’s technology they’d be able to come up with the results the second the polls closed.
So here I am, spending the rest of my day trying to act as if it’s like any other. Telling myself I won’t check the news every five minutes, that I’ll just let it all play out and then see who won. But this time around it has felt more like laying in bed, early on Christmas morning, trying to sleep as your heart pounds with anticipation. Accept there’s no cheer or joy or mistletoe. Just time to kill.
Did you get your sticker?
For those of you who don’t live in the US, your input is more than welcome. Just because you don’t have a sticker doesn’t mean you can’t join our club. 
So what was your experience on election day? Did you vote? Did you anticipate the results or just ignore the hype? I’d love to hear your thoughts about Tuesday and all of its electable electricity (or lack there of).
Okay… First Comment from A Stickerless…
THANK YOU SO MUCH AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just watched Obamas victory speech.. Wow, it nearly made me cry. Plus it restored my belief in the USA. You finally have a great man in the Oval Office again.
This election was not only important to America, it was also a very defining moment for world politics. I am so happy that this stupid personal wars will come to an end and that we can hope for peace now!
You can feel the energy Obama causes even here in Europe!
Yes, We Can!
Will @ The Rebel Mind´s last blog post..HTPMIASBPS Pt. I: Destroying The Prejudice
My experience this election day WAS very much different than previous election days. I, too, voted yesterday at the local school. After casting my vote, I was left to anticipate the results most of the day.
I was a bit more nervous than previous election days. It was…weird (that’s he best word I got). I’m not a political person, yet for one day, I was.
It’s going to take me some time to process what has happened. We spoke of “rebooting” yesterday, and I personally feel that I’m unable to fully boot after last nights reboot. I keep getting one of those “blue screens” and having to start over. I’m sure this too will pass and all will be running well.
This has brought out a side of me, I’m not so sure I like
I have no choice but to figure it out, quickly.
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I live north of the border in Canada, so the US election for me was very much a wait and see affair. However, I was highly interested in the result, as I believe much of the planet was. Perhaps I have just got caught up in the rhetoric, but I truly belive that change is coming to America and the world based on yesterday’s results.
I haven’t had cable for two years. No television whatsoever. I’ve been completely removed from the rhetoric on every level. My information is only that which I’ve read from the platforms on which the candidates stand. To me, it doesn’t matter as much who the people elect as the everyday behavior of the three hundred million of us who populate the land. WE collectively make more of a difference than one man or woman ever could, and yet rarely do we coalesce to make a difference.
Writer Dad´s last blog post..Let’s Get Our Kids Drunk! or Happy Halloween!
Haha, that’s so true about campaign signs…they’re everywhere! And, really, do they actually work? I mean is anyone saying, “Well gee, candidate A had more signs on the side of the road than candidate B, guess I’m gonn ahave to vote for A!”?
I actually waited until the evening to vote, about 45 minutes before the polls closed, and it was dead. No line. I think everyone was so excited to get in early this election because last election I went at the same time and the line was fairly long.
I enjoy watching the poll numbers come in and watching the states fill in red and blue and seeing all the numbers and stats bounce around on screen. It’s one of the few times I can watch TV for a few hours in a row without feeling guilty! Plus, being a tech geek, I LOVE watching the newscaster play with the giant touch screen….I want one of those!
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@Will: We’ll definitely have to see how it plays out, but I’m hoping for the best.
@Scott: Those blue screens are never a good thing.
I’m certainly still processing it myself. I think it’s still being absorbed my most.
@Neil: I think that the buzz word change always carries a positive note because most feel that anything different from our current situation must be better. But change, even from where we are today, can go down hill quick if the wrong choices are made. We’ll see…
@Sean: We haven’t had cable for about the same amount of time, but we cheat with an antenna. I’m with you, man. We need to make sure that WE’RE dong our part. That’s where the issues start and end in the grand scheme of things.
@Matt: “It’s one of the few times I can watch TV for a few hours in a row without feeling guilty!”
I have that experience with I watch our local college football team play. Unless, of course, if we lose.
Hi Eric – In Oregon we vote by mail, so last week we sat down, read all of the literature on the state, county and city candidates plus the ballot measures and cast our votes. We were able to use a drop off location and had our ballots cast on Saturday night. I like being able to vote like this as you can take your time and study the facts or go online if you’re in doubt.
I watched and listened to the election results. They called it pretty early for Obama, but I did stay up and watched the speeches. My thought was, “why didn’t they speak so nice about each other during the campaign”. Like others, I will not miss the signs and junk mail. It really seems like they can do something about that and not waste so much money and paper.
Hey Barbara, I could definitely see the benefits of voting in that way.
But the kid in me just like going to the place where you can push a button and then get a sticker.
“It really seems like they can do something about that and not waste so much money and paper.”
I know, tell me about it! Eric.