Voting
Today is New Mexico’s primary election day. We hold a presidential caucus in February, but this is where we vote for the candidates for Congress, county commissioners, etc. I’m one of those “super voters” I vote for the school board, I vote in the primaries.
As I walked into that elementary school I had a deep shiver in my chest, a real thrill because I was going to vote. This probably sounds corny, but when I vote I seem to see this ghostly line of people extending back into history who fought to bring me this right. Because I’m a history buff and a former lawyer it starts for me in a field in England in 1297 with Magna Carta. Since then we’ve seen abolitionist and suffragists, the power of a court declaring that “separate but equal” was by definition not equal, and attacking head on the American original sin.
And tonight an African American will carry the standard for the Democratic party. AS Keith Olberman said — “I wonder what Lincoln would think tonight.” Again, I felt that shiver.
Obama’s speech was amazing. He did his brilliant jujitsu on McCain, he brought the crowd of 17,500 people to their feet. He brought back to me the emotions I haven’t felt in far, far too many years. We’ve witnessed history tonight. That doesn’t happen too often in a person’s lifetime.
It’s hard for me to express how deeply I’ve been moved by this night.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I’m with you. This election season has made me especially moved and humbled by the opportunity to participate in such a world changing election. I must admit, I wish more of us were “super-voters”. My polling place was almost empty save for a dozen poll workers and three other voters. Chatting with the poll workers for my precinct, I was told that the youngest voter they’d seen thus far was in their early 30s while the bulk were the over 50s crowd.