It is starting to rain in Virginia.
I woke up this morning thinking about the moment in the West Wing when Joshua Malina, in charge of a hopeless Democratic campaign in Orange County, a campaign that for some reason is neck-in-neck with the Republican incumbent despite the fact that the Democratic candidate is dead, there’s this moment when towards the end of the day, clouds start forming overhead, and a storm starts brewing, a literal one to match the metaphorical, and Josh Malina walks outside and looks up at the sky and shouts “NOW,” and with a clap of thunder, rain starts pouring down.
Today feels a bit like that.
For the second day in a row, the first human being I’ve encountered in the day has been an Obama worker. Not campaigning, not doing any last-minute conversion, just making sure I know where to vote and have a ride to get there. Today’s representative was wondering if Girl had voted yet (she had), and both made sure I knew to vote for Tom Perriello and not just vote for Obama. Everyone has been extremely polite, no-nonsense, and incredibly well-organized. I’m not really their target audience — I was going to vote already, I voted in the primaries, I’m an active voter for years — but Girl was newly registered in VA, so our house got the full campaign treatment. I was happy to have the privilege of watching the GOTV movement first-hand.
I made my way to the polls a little after 10 this morning. Beautiful warm autumn day, upper 50s, clean-smelling air. Rode my bike downtown, unsure as to how long I’d be waiting, what to expect. On the way I noticed that all but one of the (admittedly few) McCain houses on the street had taken their signs in already. Charlottesville is a very blue town, but it seems oddly prophetic that the handful of Republican households in my neighborhood are retreating from showing obvious support for their candidates. I hesitate to make assumptions as to their motivations, but like I say, it’s interesting.
The polls were not the madhouse we were told to expect. Then again, I did pick 10am for a reason; just after the last pre-workday voters, just before the lunch break voters. Outside of the polling place, the Obama and Perriello campaigns had lots of staffers offering copies of the ballot, with instructions on how to fill it out, and again offering a reminder to vote for ALL the Democrats, not just Obama. They also had a table filled with snacks, pretzels and granola bars, a mountain of water bottles, obviously well-provisioned should one of the four+ hour lines form at any point. Also of note, there was not a single campaign worker from any of the Republican campaigns. The Republicans have clearly abandoned Charlottesville. Or at least downtown. Probably a wise enough move; even Goode has a hard time downtown.
Inside, the lines were short but well arranged to accommodate as many folks inside as possible. People in line were smiling and chatting, some folks had brought a huge box of doughnuts and were sharing them with their neighbors. This polling place was set up with both electronic voting machines as well as paper ballots, and both were getting a fair amount of use, with a majority using the electronic machines. These were not touchscreen, but rather click-wheel design, one of the better designs I’ve seen (very hard to choose the wrong candidate, as you have to highlight the one you want and press a button). Unsure as to the paper trail possibility of these particular machines; something I’d guess Waldo knows. Should probably ask him, come to think of it.
All in all, the entire process took twenty minutes, tops. I left the polling place with a stupid grin on my face, and a Perriello worker outside gave me my “I Voted For Obama” sticker. Just then, it started to rain. My grin got bigger, I thanked all of the people working outside, hopped on my bike and rode home, getting absolutely soaked in the process.
I’m still exhausted from the Film Festival. I’m behind on three different projects. I’m fairly broke. I slept on my hand weird, so my wrist is sore. None of that matters right now; I’m sitting here staring at the big serif letters — “I VOTED FOR OBAMA” — and I am starting to tear up. Awash in a wave of uncharacteristic optimism, I’m contemplating just how much work so many people put into working for Obama and Perriello, and I’m proud of how well they did it. Proud of my fellow citizens for devoting so much time and energy to a cause, not for personal gain, but because they just want their country to be better. I have never before in my life seen such an outpouring of truly selfless action, so many people putting their community first, their country, their fellow man. My inner cynic tells me this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I don’t know. People might actually be getting better and being better to each other. It’s hard not to get a little choked up.
In that West Wing episode, the dead Democrat does end up winning; Republicans don’t vote in the rain. Here in Virginia, the rain is coming in fits and bursts, but it might be enough to make history. Yesterday the polls were showing Perriello in a statistical dead heat with Goode. A bit of heavy afternoon rain could make all the difference.
As for the President, I suspect Mr. McCain will wait until Arizona is called, and then will concede shortly thereafter. I can’t imagine him conceding before finding out what sort of margin he receives in his home state. But by then, it should be pretty clear that he hasn’t won Pennsylvania, that he hasn’t won Virginia, and that Colorado is about to go blue as well. As soon as they call Arizona, the night is over. And the victory parties begin.
Thank you, America. You’re making me feel patriotic for the first time in my life. Keep it up.