I woke up this morning, rolled out of bed, and plodded my way to the shower. Somehow I thought that I would have an extra spring in my step today, but it didn't come.
I got out of the shower, got dressed, and secured an Obama pin to my jacket. I picked up the paper and walked up the street to the local elementary school. My feet felt as if they were dragging my legs and my head was cloudy.
At some point during the two hours I was in line, a man twice drove by the polling station honking his horn and chanting O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA! My head and my heart cleared a bit, but there was still something weighing on me.
I cast my vote, collected my sticker, and walked home.
Since I took the day off and got out of voting a little earlier than expected, I treated myself to a short nap. This was a poor, poor decision because I woke up groggier than I had been earlier.
Still, I rolled back out of bed and made my way to the computer. I started making calls.
Some people I spoke to today were outrageously rude. People who were supposed to be supporters shouted at me over the phone and one chided me for being 8 hours too late. Others will come home from work today to hear the dulcet tones of my voice on their answering machines and may have wished that they could have given me a verbal backhand like many others had done. Of course, most of the calls were your average "I already voted" or "I'm leaving right now." All in all, a pretty so-so call session.
But then I spoke to 72-year-old William in Virginia.
I have never had a voter keep me on the phone for so long. This man could not contain his enthusiasm for voting for Barack Obama and I was the very willing recipient of his long-winded speech.
First he told me about how he had voted a straight Democratic ticket and that he had waited his entire life to vote for an African-American president. He said an election had never meant more to him and I certainly believed it. I marked down his answers, thanked him for his time, and wished him a great evening.
Only William was not yet ready to end the conversation.
You see, all of William's family feels just as strongly as he does. He proceeded to tell me about how his wife, sons, grandsons, and granddaughters were all voting straight Democratic tickets. He told me each of their stories and why they were voting for Barack and what it means for his family to finally have an African-American president.
But they are not just voting for him because he is an African-American (he made sure that I understood this point). "You see," William told me," everyone thinks that black people are going to come out and vote for the black guy because he's... well... black. But that's just not true. I've been following this election for months and there is no doubt in my mind that this man is the right one for the job."
Ah ha. There's that spring I was looking for.
--------------------
NOTE: I know these stories are a dime a dozen, but I felt the desire to share it anyway because I know no one appreciates these stories like you folks. I'm going to continue calling people until the polls close and I hope you will all do the same.