It Was A Political Day Like No Other

[Hissyspit]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_on_el_ge/the_america_primary

It was a political day like no other
By ERIN McCLAM, AP National Writer
2 hours, 37 minutes ago

She had a 13-hour window to vote in the Arizona presidential primary, but Mona Reese decided she couldn't wait. She didn't even brush her teeth or change out of her pajamas before leaving home.

She found herself in line before dawn at the fellowship hall of a Methodist church in Phoenix, excitedly waiting to cast a ballot for Sen. Barack Obama. Later she clutched her "I Voted Today" sticker as if it were a winning lottery ticket.

"I literally just woke up," she said, apologizing for tousled hair and a makeup-free face. "I'm so sorry. It's that important. To wake up at 5:45 in the morning to get down here and vote."

The enthusiasm was not uncommon on a day like no other in American politics, a scramble of primaries and caucuses that went coast-to-coast — and beyond, to the South Pacific island of American Samoa.

This Tuesday was more than Super. It was a day in which more people than ever before had a say in who would be left standing to wage the long campaign for the presidency.

And it produced democracy in some of its most dramatic forms.

In Alaska, battered by some of the most brutal cold of the winter, voters trudged through a foot of new snow in some places to get to caucuses at convention centers, middle schools, a radio station — and at least one Chinese restaurant.

In lower Manhattan, voters in the New York primary elbowed their way past euphoric New York Giants fans, through tons of fluttering confetti, to get to polling places close to the Super Bowl victory parade.

In Virginia, voters were so eager they turned up at polling places across the state and deluged the Board of Elections with phone calls — and the Virginia primary isn't for another week.

It was the apex — so far — of an election season in which unusually wide-open party races, markedly increased voter interest, and the most diverse set of finalists ever have all converged.

Or in the words of Jessica Pomey, a 29-year-old Obama voter from Oakland, Calif.: "Politics used to be something you didn't talk about. Now it's everywhere, in hair salons, everywhere. It's part of the conversation."

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[OneGrassRoot]

1. That gives me goosebumps...

thanks, Hissyspit. :hi:

[Hissyspit]

2. .

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Ok I hope this continues

Or in the words of Jessica Pomey, a 29-year-old Obama voter from Oakland, Calif.: "Politics used to be something you didn't talk about. Now it's everywhere, in hair salons, everywhere. It's part of the conversation."

And if politics has become exciting again, PERHAPS we can turn this ship of state and return this government to the people

Not holding my breath, but... hope springs eternal I guess