Election Day

After months (years) of talking, discussing, arguing, pondering and--most of all in our mediated world--watching, election day is here. It has been 24 years (says CNN) since a Bush or a Clinton hasn't headed a major party ticket, and it is all going down tonight. My classes were all canceled for the day; perks to being a history major is that all of your professors understand in a painfully clear way the influence of politics and are all politically active. And yet, I have to go to work today, at both of my jobs nonetheless, and am stripped from watching any blow-by-blow coverage. So, I read blogs and write blogs to pacify the excitement.

I have gone a received my free Starbucks coffee for voting (absentee), so apparently the promo was legit. Ben & Jerry's with supposedly be a presence on campus today as well.

Aja (roommate #3) and I both voted absentee, I in Hawai'i and she in New Jersey. Personally, my ballot in the grand scheme of things probably woundn't have carried any wait no matter where I voted; Illinois is Obama-land and Hawai'i, although a relatively conservative blue state is only worth 4 electoral votes in the Electoral College, in comparison to California's 55 some. No matter what the case, the fact that it is my republic, Romanesque duty, the ballot went in.

Cinthya (roommate #2) on the other hand, woke up at 5:30 am to vote at the polling station in the church around the corner, and still she waited more than an hour. We watched the early morning coverage of both the Obamas and Bidens voting in Hyde Park in Chicago and Wilmington, West Virginia, respectively. It was a little surreal to watch. Photographers and cameramen over the decades can't really change the shot set-up when it comes to a presidential candidate casting there vote. There was something erily Kennedy-esque about it, and I am not sure why. Maybe it is simply my over-concerned subconscious kicking in; lets hope not.

All of this is to say, that since my last posting, the darn girl got lucky. I scored one of the 60,000 tickets to the Obama rally tonight in Grant Park, Chicago; good for two. Drew and I are going to brave the masses. In the last three days, every single person under the age of 27 I have talked to is just going down there, whether or not they have a ticket. The bars no doubt will be flooded, and Jumbotrons are supposedly being sprinkled throughout the park areas as we speak. While the park holds comfortable about 75,000--which I can attest to after experiencing the record-breaking numbers this summer for Lollapalooza--I would be shocked if the area doesn't break the million or more mark. The day is absolutely stunning. Last we we had freezing temperatures of 28-32 degrees during the day, and today it is already 67 degrees at 10:30am. The crowds will be out. If you intend on bracing the masses, and I recommend you should (although my Dad already called to tell me he voted and that I shouldn't go, good dad that he is), here are some resources that might be helpful in staying connected, informed and safe:

Obama Rally Guide: Do's and don't's issued by the Democratic Party and City of Chicago, including what you can and cannot bring, tentative schedule and how to get there. It seems mass transit via CTA will be the most reliable, if slow, way to get there.



Obama Rally Travel Guide: Includes maps of the park and set up, as well as travel and transit information; click here for a printable map of the venue.

Obama Rally Prep Photos: And if you simply cannot get enough of the mayhem, a photo gallery has been set up by the Tribune of the set up and crowds beginning to form early this morning. Mostly those Northwestern Medill students who are all involved and shit. Brittany P. got a gig through the Wildcat Medill department to work the event all day and night, then wake up and be a runner for Good Morning America at 3:30am tomorrow.



The general tone of life today is nervous excitement, that atmosphere where nothing and no one can be productive. Truly, the one thing that confuses me most about the election process in the United States, second only to the anachronistic existence of the Electoral College, is the fact that only in 17 states is Election Day a state holiday. In Hawai'i, the very last state to join the union, my parents have never had to go to work on Election Day. Everyone stayed home and drove to there voting precincts; we did always as a family, which usually meant finding a church somewhere deep in a sugar cane field in order to vote. If it is in the national interest, why isn't it a national holiday?

Look for more posts through the day as I remain unproductive at work for want of a television. For want of a better closer:

Be informed. Vote.