GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

On the night before election day, I want to encourage ALL of you to get out and vote (if you haven't already, that is).

Rob and I are very obviously Obama supporters. Part of our collection of campaign swag is shown at left...including an "I heart voting" sticker we received after voting early (we heard horror stories about people waiting in line for many hours at Oberlin voting locations four years ago, and decided to head to the polls last week and save ourselves the trouble on election day). It's been kind of thrilling for both of us to finally be living in a state (Ohio, if you couldn't tell), where our votes have been so eagerly sought after by both candidates. While residing in Utah and New York, anticipated results weren't nearly as close. We don't really watch much TV, so have fortunately been spared most of the ubiquitous political ads that have swamped the airwaves, but there's still an urgent sort of excitement in the air that is impossible to miss.

On October 22, we attended a pro-Obama rally at a local high school, and were privileged to hear vice president Joe Biden speak in person. It was a bit of a hassle to wait in line early...

...and wade through what amounted to a trip through airport security...

 ...but in the end we were lucky enough to be randomly selected (or perhaps we just looked like a "nice young couple" that would look great in the front row), by one of the door monitors to head upstairs and claim the best seats in the house...though, we still had to stand like everyone else. We had a great view of the high school's pep band (who entertained and revved up the assembling crowd), didn't have to worry about any tall people blocking our view of the festivities, and had a perfect vantage for people watching. We were also fortunate to have a bar to lean against in order to take some of the pressure off our feet and knees...and after watching EMTs cart away three people who'd passed out over the course of the event (an occurrence not uncommon in this sort of setting), our gratitude for this small means of support increased.

I'd seen snippets of similar gatherings on the news, but this was the first really major political shindig I'd attended in person. The room hummed with anticipation as volunteers passed out signs to attendees, and occasionally, someone in the room would try to start the crowd chanting ("I say Joe, you say Biden: Joe, Biden, Joe, Biden!" "four more years, four more years!" and "O-ba-ma, O-ba, ma!" were popular selections). When the long-awaited special guests finally arrived the crowd erupted into cheers...

And there he is...literally!

By the way...isn't Ohio's state flag cool? I just love that it's not yer reg'lar ol' rectangle!

And here's an "artsy" shot I took of the crowd as seen through one of the flag banners that hung down in front of our balcony.

Anyway, back to my original point. Regardless of who you support (though I'll give my fellow Obama supporters an enthusiastic thumbs up!), I hope you head out to vote tomorrow. It's shocking to me that such a small percentage of our population (only 63% in 2008), typically takes part in elections...and then complains about things not going how they'd like. If there's one thing I hope all the campaign hype accomplishes, it's getting more people out to the polls.

Happy voting!