Open discussion: Election Day 2008

I do know that I'll be taking my 18 year old to school (she's a senior in high school) to vouch for her so that she can vote. Somehow her registration didn't show up as expected so as a registered voter, I'll vouch for her. We're headed to the polls at 6:45 in the morning.

Um, I'd better go to bed!

Hope it is a good first voting experience for her, Susan! Keep us posted. See you at the Election Night Policy and a Pint event!

Hi again Julia. I'm sharing my voting experiences of today over here. Nothing earth shaking yet, but the day's early.

Terrific! Thanks for the link, Susan. I just got back, Voter #115.

Voted absentee. I am going to be a "poll challanger" from 1 pm to 8pm.

With all the crap that has gone on in Ohio and Florida and all the ACORN corruption and a Secretary of State who is covering for them, I 'm suprised more states don't use poll challangers like our state does. This is my third time doing it and there has always been both a Republican and a Democrat at the polls making sure that the election laws are followed.

I was the 96th voter at 9AM, visited with my neighbors on the way into vote, no wait to speak of - I am in the Hudson Valley of NY. There is little question where the national election is going, from this (NY) vantage, but the local candidates' fates are still up in the air.

I passed an attorney in the street after I voted who said the outcome of this election won't be decided for a week or more (I said that here on gather last week) and that if it goes to the Republicans we can't just sit back and let it happen again. Not like Gore or Kerry - we have to fight. Strong words from a lawyer!

Have a great day, everyone.

That should be pretty interesting Winston. One can hope there is no cause for a poll challenger and that presence alone covers concerns.

Richard will you post about your local results?

Hey Melinda keep us at MPR posted!

You make it sound so relaxing, Frick. We were jammed in line but I like my neighbors so it wasn't bad.

Note to all: You can report news from your polling place directly to Minnesota Public Radio at 1-877-678-NEWS.

I'll be live-blogging when the polls close - link to follow.

The polls are closing! Live Discussion Here

Standing in line to vote this morning, I was thinking about my old job. And babes.

Many companies have an office to handle compliance with the government regulations that affect employees. In the early 90s when new acquaintances first heard where I worked, some glared. “Oh, so you gave my job to a minority. Or a girl.” Affirmative Action’s purpose – measuring all seekers with the same ruler for the same job – was tinny background static to their thumping notions of quotas.

The job is many years gone, but the discussions on the intent and minutiae that are Affirmative Action echoed down every hallway from there to here. The specifics reverberated this morning as I filled in my ballot.

Here’s what I believe: the vindication of affirmative action is when Sarah Palin is NOT elected Vice President, because she’s unqualified.

The right hiring criteria for second-in-command are qualities we’ve probed all along: intelligence, perspective, diplomacy, leadership. Thoughtful voters know that while there are many paths to accumulate the experience and credibility, the office makes the same demands on whoever occupies it. “Babe-ness” has nothing to do with vice presidency.

When we call an end to discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation, we’re going in the right direction. When we declare that the right person for the job is the most qualified person, we’re picking up speed. When our process brings forth serious candidates from all walks of life, we’re passing milestones. When we pick the Vice President who can do the job best, even though the one with the fashionable gender would make history, we have finally gotten somewhere.

I was thinking that fifteen years ago, reminding the glarers that they had no divine right of hiring would have gotten me a punch in the nose. Today, history doesn’t owe Sarah Palin a job she is not prepared to do. The prize here is not a trophy bride in the Naval Observatory; it’s an election that focuses on credentials over chromosomes. Right now the most qualified applicant happens to be a middle-aged white guy, and he should get the hiring offer. Oh, yeah, and so should the guy who nominated him.

The lines were long in Eagan this morning. I waited a good half-hour before I found myself holding my ballot waiting for an empty booth. Despite all the ill-will and cheap-shots of the election, I couldn't help feeling the shiver of awe........

Let's assume Barak Obama is elected president, what does that mean for race relations? Is this the beginning of the end for the civil rights movement?

If it is, what does this mean for the Democratic Party?

Think about it.

The end game of the civil rights movement means that minorities will be demographically indistinguishable from the majority. This has happened before. It happened with the Irish, with the Italians, with Eastern Europeans and with Jews.

The end of the struggle for equality for immigrants was the election of John F. Kennedy. It is also the last time that those immigrant groups voted along party lines.

Could the election of Obama mark the end of party loyalty for African-Americans?

Julia - I flew in from Louisiana back to Santa Barbara on Nov. 4th - I had voted absentee for Obama and when I got back here, we watched the election returns - I was exhausted but still I celebrated! Salud

Greg, will you write a Gather article (if you haven't already) about this question: "...what does that mean for race relations?"