Our neighbors in Ohio have been inundated with pleadings from both sides of the Presidential campaign. The non-stop ads, the visits and rallies and phone calls they’ve endured have earned them the sympathy of the rest of the nation. I know there are other swing states, but no one seems to have gotten so much attention for so long.
Almost at the opposite end of the spectrum, just to the west, is a red sore thumb amid the northern blue Midwest. No celebrities or big name politicians plead for our votes. No pundits bother to predict anything but a Romney win.
I happen to live in the tiny northwest corner of the state with strong, deep ties to Chicago. “Da Region” as so many call it are two counties that have little in common with the rest of the State. Not everyone here is liberal, but the one county (Lake) is blue and the other (Porter) where I reside is turning a little more purple every year.
My diary is just a snapshot of this time and place today. This year you can vote early in Indiana without offering an excuse for being absent on Election Day. The hours have been limited, ending at 3:30 p.m. I had to wait until today to cast my ballot. I knew there might be a bit of a line, but I was astounded by the size of the crowd pouring into the temporary voting station at the county government center. When I followed the signs and arrived downstairs the line was long, snaking down a corridor and around another. Another portion of the line was parallel to us, going in the opposite direction. “How long have you been waiting?” the guy in front of me asked one of them.
“About an hour” was the reply. That line still had a ways to go before the voting booths, so we knew we were in for a wait. At least we were indoors. A few minutes later a young woman with no ID badge, just wearing jeans and a shirt came along and collected all of our photo ID’s. That’s been a requirement here for a while. This is suburbia; driver’s licenses are almost a requirement for living here. After about twenty of us produced them she said she’d be back and disappeared. The guy in front of me commented that either we are way too trusting or incredibly stupid, himself included. Someone in the parallel line said “don’t worry, she’ll be back’. About twenty minutes later she was, with our pre-printed paperwork and licenses.
As with any line we had all kinds of people. Some had brought young children, they were restless and running around. Quite a few had babies, and their cries echoed off the tiled walls to add to the din. It was hot down there. People were pulling off jackets and sweaters as the line snaked along and joking about removing more.
Our two lines going in opposite directions shared a variety of open exchanges. We talked about movies and books and celebrities. We talked about the wars--from Viet Nam until today. Everyone seemed to feel that we should be done and out of Afghanistan. One man told a story about his son coming home from Iraq minus two legs, but being charged for his airline ticket home. Many mentioned Hurricane Sandy and how horrible it must be for so many who lost everything, or are still without electricity.
“How about that Obama and Chris Christie thing?” a woman said. "Wasn’t it nice to see two politicians getting along?" Suddenly both sides of the line fell silent. Until now, no one had brought up the reason we were all there. No one had asked, or told, who they were voting for today. You could feel a bit of fear, because the nice easygoing conversations might now change. There was no doubt people of both persuasions were in line. We had all witnessed verbal battles at our workplaces, at home, at family gatherings. Both sides fervently believe that the election is crucially important to the future of our country. It seemed we were all weary of it too. No one wanted to go there today.
Then an older woman said, “you know what, I’m just happy to see politicians working together. I’m sick of all the fighting. I’m sick of political parties. I just want to vote for the right person.” Heads nodded in agreement, and the conversation continued. You could feel the relief in the air. Part of me felt like I should have said something. I wanted a brilliant comment that would generate the open conversational atmosphere that some diarists here have managed to create. Sadly, I failed. Perhaps I'm a coward. Or just not brilliant enough. I couldn't think of anything to say.
The man in front of me talked a lot throughout the two and a half hours we shared the line together. He even commented towards the end how nice it was that nobody had asked each other who they were voting for, “because it’s nobody’s business” he said. “I don’t even ask my wife” he added. I agreed.
I proudly cast my vote for Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and all the other Democratic candidates on the ballot. On my way home I started thinking. Rachel Maddow mentioned on her show the other night that Indiana is rarely polled because it has legal constrictions on how it can be done. Many articles have mentioned that early voting favors our President. I’m giving myself a glimmer of hope that Indiana will surprise everyone and turn Blue.
I also have a little poll. Because I have to confess that several things the man in front of me mentioned made me think that he was a Republican. I’m not sure if my feelings come from reality, stereotypes or my own prejudices. So I hope my fellow dKos members can help me with that. It’s just satisfying my own curiosity. That’s all.