One Small Voice

Could it be?
Yes, it could
Something's coming
Something good
Maybe tonight

-- from West Side Story, Stephen Sondheim

Aww, don't go flaming me for knowing the lyrics to a Broadway tune! I'm frickin' giddy today! I've been waiting to vote in this election for over a year, toying with the idea of voting in another Clinton (thank God I came to my senses!), considering a third party vote (once McKinney was the Green Party pick, I abandoned that idea but quick), and getting more and more enraged as Republicans pulled out every racist, bigoted, fear-mongering card they could in their desperate attempts to deflect attention from their epic failures in the past eight years.

This morning, I voted for Barack Obama, in a straight Democratic vote across the board. I almost picked a Republican for Congress because I do not like Maxine Waters (old school liberal), but in the end I went with her because I never heard a peep from the other candidates during the campaign. Plus No on Prop 8, Yes on Prop 2 (poor chickens!), Yes on Prop 3 (good for the kids), No on Prop 4 (parental notification prior to an abortion), No on Prop 7 (after a friend of mine in the solar business wrote to tell me hurt his employer's ability to grow), and No on all the others except Prop 11 (the veterans bill). I voted for Measure R (the traffic bill), and no on the rest of the county measures.

I voted at Cowan Avenue Elementary School, right after Max got dropped off. The school auditorium actually serves two precincts. For my precinct, my wait was about three minutes. For the other, the line snaked up the aisle from the first row nearly to the back row, about 20 deep, probably about half an hour. There were at least double the number of poll workers this time, including, for the first time, a young kid no more than 20 with a pierced eyebrow and half the energy of the seniors working the table with him. Oddly enough, I usually recognize at least a few people since I live in such a little neighborhood, but this time, I didn't know a single person.

The energy in the room was high (particularly from me). After voting, I double-checked the ballot and turned it in, waiting until the ballot box light turned green. Yea! My vote counts!

On my way up the aisle, the lines had grown. I walked back to the house, taking one more look at the Obama yard sign on my lawn adjacent to the little flag I planted next to it. Then I hopped in my car and started off for work.

Every polling place I passed along the way had lines out the door. The last one, a car dealership in Santa Monica, had a line from the showroom door about 40 feet off the street to the sidewalk and down to the corner. I estimated about 60-70 people in line. One of my associates at work said it took him two hours to vote at his place in Hollywood.

I want to hear your polling place stories! Please email or post your accounts!

Know hope!