Monday, November 3, 2008

It's almost over! Finally!!!

I went for a walk around the block a few days ago and found myself reading campaign signs: "Obama”
“Change”
“Obama”
“Obama”
I counted 12 Obama signs and 1 Obama bumper sticker as I walked around one block.
Then the next day I was driving home from the doctor’s office, not very far away, and counted (while still paying careful attention to the rules of the road) 21 Obama signs and 1 bumper sticker.
I did not, on either excursion, notice any McCain signs.
Then tonight I was trying to listen to the headlines on news and I couldn’t help laughing as I saw “Obama” signs being waved enthusiastically in the background. (The news station’s backdrop is a glass wall where passersby often wave.)
I should mention that I heard on the local NPR station that Obama signs have sold 3 to 1 here in this state. The signs are given for a ‘donation’ of $10 whereas McCain signs are $3.
At first thought, this may not seems so unusual. I think that many Americans are waiting for change, hopefully for the better, and have decided that our present Republican leaders have had much to do with our current state of affairs in the world, not to mention local economic conditions.
What struck me as funny about all of this is that this is a very RED state. I dare say this state is probably thought of as one of the most Republican states in the nation. However, the county I live in, which county holds the state capital, is very decidedly Democratic. I think most non-locals don’t realize this.
I have thought that perhaps, for some number of people, supporting Obama is kind of the trendy thing to do. He seems to have more of a presence, and hasn’t distanced himself through bitter politics like McCain has.
In the end there are certain moral beliefs which I hold that far outweigh many of my other political concerns and definitely influence my voting heavily, so for me deciding who to vote for is usually not difficult. Not until this year. I was still up the air until a week or two ago.
So, I’m going to get a good night’s rest so that tomorrow morning I can stand in line, with my 2 small children, for as long as I have to until I get my vote in.

2 comments:

Natalie said...

Downtown Salt Lake is quite different from other parts of the state, isn't it? You should try finding a McCain sign in Philly! Our neighbors have a McCain/Palin bumper sticker and Taylor praised them for being so brave. I think so far there car has been unharmed ;).

Deborah Moore said...

Isn't it good that both Candidates actually had good merits, as opposed to some candidates in the past. While I voted for Obama, I thought McCain gave a wonderful concession speech last night.
And yes, I think there were lots of people who voted for Obama as a way to be hip or whatever. It would be nice if people had to write at least one policy or valid reason they want to vote for a particular person, but I guess that would limit voter turn out, and we wouldn't want that.