Okay. So it was more like my Obama 80 minutes.
My wife and I got to the Job Center in Akron shortly after it opened this morning, and, already, the line was out the door and down the block.
Hundreds and hundreds of people, mostly black, but, also, ethnically diverse. Many, many students and twenty-somethings. But, also, a good number of elderly voters. Plenty of moms with babies in strollers. There was just this overwhelming sense of excitement. You had the idea that people wanted to vote, and, moreover, they wanted to talk about who they were voting for.
The woman in line in front of us was barely standing. She’s a nurse, a white woman, and had just gotten off the night shift at an elder care home. “This is cutting into my sleeping time,” she said.
She all but told us she was voting for Obama. “We need a change,” she said. She told me that if the politicians saw what she sees every day in the health care industry, they would understand that, too.
She was still sitting and waiting a little over an hour after we arrived when they called my name — my ballot was finally ready. She sat slumped over with her head in her hands, about ready to pass out.
When all was said and done, I voted for two Republicans — Greg Bachman, for county engineer, and Drew Alexander, for sheriff — both of whom came highly recommended. I voted to fund the Clean Ohio program. I voted (after a fantastic and still ongoing back and forth on my post, “Ohio State-wide Ballot Initiatives,” below) to cap the interest rate on payday loans. I voted against the casino. I voted for the sewers-to-scholarships program.
Oh. I voted for Barack Obama for president, and Joe Biden for vice president. I have a strong sense I’m not the only one.