Despite that long title, there’s nothing much exciting to say. This is my first time ever doing campaigning on an election day. Of course, then again, this is the first election where I’ve donated to a political campaign, put a bumper sticker on my car, or been involved in the campaign at all … although I might have put a Badnarik ‘04 sticker on my car had I had access to one. I just wasn’t involved enough at that time to seek one out, nor did I have enough income to spare to donate to a campaign.
I’ve been our here since a little before 10 a.m. this morning. When I got here, another guy from my precinct was already here with a banner and some signs. He left about 12:30 or so, and I’ve been out here alone ever since.
I’m a bit surprised that none of the other campaigns are represented out here today. There aren’t even many signs out. I count five Ron Paul signs (not counting the one I’m holding), two Hillary Clinton signs, and one Mike Huckabee sign … and that one only appeared while I was at Subway grabbing lunch around 2pm. I expected there to be at least a Huckabee supporter, and maybe an Obama supporter out.
The response has been lackluster to say the least. I’ve had a few people blow there horns and wave and/or give me a thumbs up. A few people gave me a thumbs down, and one curmudgeon rolled down his window and yelled “f___ you!”
I had expected there to be an influx of people around lunch time, but didn’t really observe much of an increase. Perhaps more people will start showing up around 5pm or so … if the rain holds off long enough for me to last that long.
Update: 4:06 p.m. - Traffic is starting to pick up now. I’ve had a couple more people drop by and give me the thumbs up gesture. One guy pulled in and asked when the polls closed, and said he and his wife would be back to vote for Ron Paul. I also was able to direct a non-RP voter to his proper polling location.
Update: 6:41 p.m. - Seeing lots of folks coming out now. People are telling me the wait inside is 15 minutes or so right now. I’ve seen a number of Ron Paul supporters, but I’ve also talked to a few folks who support other candidates. I know I’ve made my fair share of digs at Rudy Giuliani, but I talked to one fellow who had been a supporter who was glad to see I was out working at the polls, and was glad to see so many people voting. A few hours ago, I talked to a doctor who told me he’d voted for Obama, but really liked Ron Paul, because after all, they were both doctors. He really liked Ron Paul’s stance on immigration, though he disagreed with him on other issues. Another fellow told me that there are far more people out voting tonight than were here at the last presidential election.
It’s been a long day, but I’m glad I took the time to come out. This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in a long time. Even if the majority of the people in my district don’t vote for Dr. Paul, it’s exciting to see how many of them care about the direction of the country that they do get out and vote.
Update: 8:24 p.m. - The crowd started to die down not too long after my last update. By 7:15 or so, the place was pretty much dead. By 8:00, I was ready to go home.
I’m sore and I’ve got blisters on my feet, and I’m dead tired. But … it was fun. I’m glad I was able to take the time to do this today, even though I wish I had been able to give more time to efforts prior to today. Now to sit back and relax … well, maybe not. I do have to catch up on some of the work I missed today.
Overall, I’m really, really surprised to have not seen supporters of any other candidate out. Several people who arrived to vote said the same thing. I’m pleased that the Ron Paul campaign was the only campaign to be represented at all at my polling place … and except for a few breaks to grab food and run home, he was represented all day! Woohoo!
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