It's primary day here in Pennsylvania. Never one to procrastinate, I arrived at my Philadelphia suburban polling place at 7:30 a.m., about 30 minutes after the polls opened.
On the way, the local all-news radio station was reporting huge turnouts at polling locations throughout the city. Locally, however, the lines were not long. I had to wait behind two people, which wasn't unusual.
What was unusual about this voting experience was that people seemed much more energized than usual. There seemed to be an animated buzz in the room that I had never noticed in previous elections. The sound of hope?
As I was leaving the polls in my ethnically diverse neighborhood, I overheard a young African-American man talking to his African-American friend. As he motioned to me, he said, "She voted for Hillary."
He saw a middle-aged white woman in a pantsuit and assumed that I voted for Hillary. I'm Hillary's base, I suppose.
But no, I did not vote for Hillary.
And I've met a lot of other middle-aged white women who weren't planning to vote for Hillary.
And I've met a lot of African-Americans of both genders who weren't planning to vote for Barack.
On the other hand, I've met many others in both groups who did plan to vote as "expected".
The important thing is that it can't be taken for granted, and this pantsuit-wearing middle-aged white woman is a case in point. Hopefully most of us have evolved to the point where we understand that electing the right person is more important than electing a certain race or gender.
And so I reached into my purse, pulled out my "Obama 2008" button, flashed it at the two young men, and winked.
http://www.maryshawonline.com
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she may be associated.
jeans when I hit the polls this morning, Mary. I guess that makes me a different demographic. Middle aged white woman in jeans and pony tail. I keep reading these nonsense polls with all the strange variations on which type person will vote for this one and which type will vote for that one. It makes me laugh and shake my head in wonderment.
I went to a Senior Fair last week here in the Lehigh Valley. (According to AARP, I'm a senior now. I wanted to add to my free pen and refrigerator magnet collection.) The place was packed with real seniors - many wearing blue Hillary buttons. I passed by the ebullient Hillary's Got It In The Bag contingent and a woman asked me if I wanted a large placard with Hillary Clinton printed on it. I smiled sweetly and said, "No, thank you. I'm voting for someone else." Her smile disappeared - replaced by befuddlement as a few seconds ticked by - but she didn't ask me who and I didn't offer. I got a perverse pleasure out of that little intrigue.
I found the Obama booth and accepted a green Obama sticker to wear on my shirt. The Obama people were a lower keyed group yet determined and hopeful. As am I that my choice will make a difference.
by
Hope Hofmann (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments)
on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 6:26:02 PM
