Vote Obama
It’s official: I’ve decided to support Obama in the upcoming election. More than that: I’m a delegate! I’ll be going to the county caucus to turn in my vote and choose a state convention delegate (I’d love to go to the state convention, but I’m booked to shoot a wedding that day). By my math, my delegate vote represents votes for 19.67 people in my neighborhood.
The caucuses this afternoon were amazing. Record turnouts. I happened to drive from one end of Seattle (Ballard) to my house in Wallingford. All along the way, I saw hundreds of people walking to their polling places. It was the greatest display of community I’ve seen in years. Yeah, I know it’s corny, but it made me feel all warm in side.
At my polling station, a local church, the line to get in went around the corner then down the block (see pic: this is the line in front of me to the corner; the line behind me was longer). They had to break us up and present to us in shifts. Some precincts had to meet outside because there wasn’t enough room inside the church.
Our precinct had a dramatic upset. At first tally of votes, Obama won 4 delegates, Clinton 1, and 1 went undecided since we had several undecided votes. Then, a couple made a passionate speech in favor of Kucinich and chatted up the undecideds in our group. Their strategy worked: by the final tally, Kucinich picked up the final vote (their logic: send a few Kucinich delegates to the convention to force the big 2 campaigns left by courting the Kucinich vote).
Myself, I stuck with Obama throughout. Though both Clinton & Obama are excellent candidates, I think we need inclusive politics more than divisive politics.
