(An Obama volunteer holding sign as the sun sets, calling to make sure more water and snacks are coming)
I voted on Sunday, the last day to vote in Florida. We drove around to several places to see how bad the wait was, and were told variously that the wait was 9 hours, or 7 hours, or 8 hours. We finally decided to just wait at the place nearest where we live, which is a small library.
This was my girlfriend's first time voting ever. We're both 28. I've voted in every election since I was old enough, including midterms. She swore to me when we met 10 months ago that there was absolutely nothing I could do to get her to even register to vote, let alone be interested in politics or vote. In October, she registered Democrat. On Sunday, she sat in line with me for 5 hours to cast her vote for Obama.
This was the line at the front of the library when we arrived to vote a little before 2:30pm.
This was the line snaking around the side of the library.
And the line snaking around to the back of the library past the parking lot. We had to park almost a half mile away.
Someone sent the ice cream man to us so we could have snacks while in line.
The line as we were about halfway there. There was a sign (that I didn't get in the picture) telling us that from that point the wait was almost three more hours.
Some people in line entertaining themselves by playing cards. The little girl stood in line with her father the entire time, wanting to be with him as he voted for Obama.
Finally, at 7:30pm, we were finished. My girlfriend's first time voting ever, casting a vote for Obama.
These pictures tell part of my personal story of why I think Obama will win Florida. If Obama can inspire someone who didn't know anything about politics and didn't care at all, and swore she never would, to register and vote...I think that says it all. Several people in line our age and much older who we spoke to also told us they'd never voted in their lives and were sitting in a 5 hour line to vote for Obama.
In that whole line we had only one person who was voting for McCain. (At least, only one person who admitted it.)
My girlfriend's excitement even inspired her mother in PA to vote Obama - even though she's been a lifelong Republican.
When I asked my girlfriend if she'd rather do an absentee ballot, since Sunday was her one and only day off (she works six days every week), she told me she'd rather wait in line to actually get to be in the booth and cast her vote.
Not one person in that line got discouraged, even when the sun was going down, even when it started to rain, even when they posted signs telling how much longer we would be waiting. I've voted in every election I possibly could for the past ten years, and I've never seen anything like this. I believe Obama will win Florida - and the election.
I hope anyone reading doesn't mind my personal diary and my admittedly not-so-great pictures.