Several “unofficial” pack buttons for Obama. Many can be purchased online from democraticstuff.com and cafepress.com.
While working in the local Democratic party campaign office here in Florida, many of the volunteers I worked with came down with a bad case of “hurry up and wait.” It was mid afternoon on Tuesday on the East Coast. We all felt that we had done what we could – all that we had been asked to do – but we wanted to do even more.
Some of us spent the morning watching the polls, working as advocates for voters who had problems with their registrations. Some of us spent the day handing out Democratic literature, signs, and stickers to voters waiting in line. Others, such as myself, spent the day working out of the office, taking donations, helping voters find their poll locations, arranging rides, transporting absentee ballots, and calling registered Democrats who had not yet shown up to remind them to vote. Although many phone calls still needed to be made, we didn’t have enough phones to go around in the temporary office we had rented. Our volunteer telephone technician was been busy trying to find more open lines that didn’t sound like static or cut off in the middle of phone calls.
While couriering an absentee ballot to another office, I passed a lot of people waving McCain Palin signs but no one waving Obama Biden signs. I returned to find our office filled with eager volunteers with nothing to do.
“Who wants to wave signs?” I asked.
A large group of us carried signs of all shapes and sizes out to the major multi-lane intersection near our office. As we shook the signs and waved, we were very encouraged by the large number of people who honked their horns and waved back. “Look at all the people for Obama,” cried one woman in amazement.
The election had seemed rather personal to me so far. After losing the past two elections to Republican candidates, I felt like a woman against the world. Seeing all the happy Obama faces helped me put a new perspective on the magnitude of the masses of people who also felt the same way I did, that we needed a change, a new party in the White House, with a new agenda based on human rights, environmental preservation, and World peace.
“Latinos for Obama!” shouted a driver to us.
“Canadians for Obama!” shouted a couple on vacation in Florida who asked how to get a sign as a souvenir.
“Yes we can!” shouted a group of little girls sticking their heads out the window. It brought tears to our eyes.
Bus drivers waved as they passed, one policeman flipped on his siren, and an emergency vehicle flashed their lights – all are for Obama.
Students and young people of all colors and creeds hollered loudly, laid on their horns, played music, and cheered as they drove up and down the streets energizing the Obama sign wavers. It was one spectacular group party, and the election results had not even begun to come in, yet. Somehow, we all knew what was to come.
While most older white drivers either turned their heads away from us, some were very boisterous in their opposition to Barack Obama. I’ll never forget seeing a few cars with very well dressed older white ladies in the passenger seat, sticking out their tongues and jabbing their thumbs down at me as I held my sign high. I’d swear their husbands, who seemed to always be the ones driving, circled the block more than once.
Imagine my joy when I saw older white drivers wave and honk their horns – even truck drivers in construction vehicles and dump trucks sporting the names of the businesses where they worked, all waving and honking for Obama.
“Old white people for Obama!” I cheered.
A reserved black couple who were volunteering with me, were a bit taken aback by my statement. “Old white people?” asked Chip, “Well, I guess you can say that. We have signs for everything else, why not that?”
“Hippies for Obama!” shouted Austin at a man who waved at us.
“Cool white people for Obama,” I said to a truck hauling junk with three people jammed in the front seat who waved and honked loudly.
The passenger replied, “You say white people. But, why not purple people?” he asked as he pointed to the black woman waving the sign beside me dressed all in purple.
“Yes, she is purple. And I’m a blue person!” I laughed, pointing to my blue Obama shirt.
Obama really is “OUR” president. Over 64 million people voted for him. The Obama Biden team won by 7.6 million popular votes, 52% of the 120.6 million votes cast. This is more than I can say for George W. Bush who lost the popular vote to Al Gore, but won the electoral college in 2000, thereby securing the presidency.
My prediction of 369 electoral votes for Obama/Biden is very close to the actual 365 tally (after adding in North Carolina and one vote from split state, Nebraska). I was wrong about which states would vote for the Democratic ticket, but I’m right that we won by a landslide. Here in Florida, of all places, Obama won by 195,000 votes.
Just as I put up with Bush for eight years, these naysayers can put up with Obama for eight years. Give his administration a chance. You might like what you get! Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore said it the best on Larry King Live on CNN, November 5, “We're not going to have universal healthcare just for the blue states. We're going to have that for everyone -- all the Republicans included.”
Of course, it will be a few very long weeks before President elect Obama and Vice President elect Biden can take office. In the meantime, I have taken my yard sign in, not because I’m worried about retaliation by white supremacists, but because anything Obama has become a very hot item!
