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Swing State

Monday, November 3, 2008

An evening rally in a swing state. Front Street fills up with people.

Police watch from rooftops in a pastel sky
and pigeons swirl around the courthouse, watching as well.
There are people I haven't met
and some that I have. We call undecided voters from our cellphones.
Our mayor plays guitar and sings.Two from our band moonlight.
I am happy to see them.
The old armory cries out for salvation
It's a fine backdrop, even empty and worn.Full moon peeks at the shimmering crowd--a logo unto herself
Flag points her out. O!
Some watch from windows as the sky goes black.
Buses arrive. A motorcade whoops down the inky street,blue and red lights mixing to violet on the bus's flanks.Waves heave through the crowd
and the band finishes up.Everyone waits
and he emerges.
The roar goes on and on.
At last, he speaks.
He tells us what he can doand leaves us changed.

28 comments:

Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer tonight.

I invited myself over to my neighbors to watch the results as I'm too nervous and ascared to watch them alone.

Opossums for Obama!!

Possumlady's Cats: "Meow We Can"

These past few months and weeks have brought so much hope and possibility. That's a gift in itself these days, and I hope it's one that will keep on giving. My family mailed a few votes down to Wood County, OH -- I hope they make a difference.

Good luck down there!

Verification word: recrat. Bloggy bipartisanship?

DON'T stop thinking about tomorrow...
;-) (Fleetwood Mac)

Greetings from another swing state (NM). Love your photos and thoughtful writings. I linked to your site (can't remember how) the day you posted "Ruby's Gone" and have been a fan ever since. Keep up the good works!

Poets for Obama!!

Neat! I would love to attend a rally. They typically don't come here because NY is a given win for the Democrats (not that I'm complaining :-). It would also be impossible getting as close as you did to Mr. Biden. Crossing my fingers, too!!

hoping for a wonderful outcome...and that would be Obama/Biden...lets all say a prayer...nice blog

O my! I can't take it - 24 hours left, my stomach in knots. Trust when I say its not just a US election. The whole world waits - breath held. People here in little villages beg please that we vote for Obama mustering every bit of English they've ever learned to plead. It breaks my heart that the last eight years have wielded such an ugly hand that its felt in little Nicaraguan villages or by a shaman in Siberia that lives in a tiny yurt in a kingdom that no one has every heard of or the bus driver in Albania that lives on a few dollars a day. They wait to. It's hard to believe. Thanks for sharing this today. It just makes my heart soar.

We're thinking alike. I just posted on VOTE! How can anyone ever NOT vote.
Oh yes--I'll be there--even if I have to slip away between classes to vote. I WILL BE THERE.
And tomorrow evening, no more robo-calls.

Great man from Delaware.

His better partner is in Charlotte right now. Our state is in an uproar.

Let's hope for the best - no matter the outcome.

A three-hour wait to vote early HAD BETTER PAY OFF DAMMIT!

Politically cynical in NC,
Mary

Yay! It looks like we will have a new senator and a new congressman, if it all hangs together. Yippy! Do you think there is anyway Alaska could go for the big O? Hmmmm...just a thought. If it is even in the single digits, it is a sea change.

weird verification: eroti

Julie, I live in DC and will be voting for Obama. I just hope that everyone will make the effort to vote. Get to your voting station!!

While having my fit, I forgot to tell you how wonderful you captured faces in your photos. They's great.

This election is the most exciting of my whole life. One more day!

Greetings from Minnesota!

"The way things are, are not the way things have to be ..."

Yes, we can.

Ummm, the guy you haven't met? Do you think you could meet him and get his phone number for me? Yum.


I voted early, and while the air in Austin is electric with support for Obama, it's a little disheartening to live in a state where your vote really doesn't matter. All my hope is invested in swing states--so have a block party at your polling place and vote!

No matter where you live, your vote DOES matter!
I was brought up to regard election day as a holy day of obligation, so I've always reveled in the ritual. Plus, not doing your civic duty puts a major kink in your mojo.

We get only one day to vote (how terribly 20th century) here in PA, and I'm as wound up as a kid on Christmas Eve. This, despite a double dose of benadryl,

(And yeah, I'm with Katy about tasty stranger. Yum. And yikes!)

Haha Catbird I call dibs!

I know that in some small way my vote will count, if only to reflect the changing political chemistry of Texas. But for every one of me, there are 10 more that truly believe the 11th amendment is "vote Palin," and that's where it becomes so disenchanting. But I was very excited when I voted (even more excited by the long lines--if it means people are engaging in their civic duty, then I don't mind waiting), and I hope that I will be overjoyed in 24 hours.

There's no early voting in PA? Seriously?

I'm glad that it looks like Michigan is going for Obama, even if that meant we stopped being a swing state and getting attention from the candidates.

Thanks for a wonderful photo essay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yay! Go, change! For those of you in Ohio, your vote is worth approximately 1900 jerseyvotes - what an exciting day!

Your election scares the crap out of me.

My friends (and I say this with affection), that would be a LOT of crap.

It scares us too. It scares us, too.

The thought that we could have someone making policy for us who knows no better than to believe that dinosaurs and humans co-existed a few thousand years ago is deeply frightening to me as a citizen and steward of this planet.

Terrific photo essay.

Julie, in your comment, I assume you mean Palin and not McCain. As a former Alaskan resident I apologize for her dinosaur comments-not all Alaskans are that ditzy.

Hey! What about the current President? You know the one who says that the jury is out on evolution but the bird flu virus could evolve! The one who stuffed science advisory panels with partisans and corporate insiders! I think we have already lived through the scary stuff!

Great post, julie! Thank you for showing us what else you've been seeing lately there in your swing state. Here's wishing to a very blue tide.

LOVED this post.

Even though I'm tired of political stuff... and I adore your Chet Baker-and-birds posts more than you can imagine.

Nice thoughts and pictures really set the scene.

Like larvae emerging with wings, we are changed forever.

WOOHOO! OBAMA!
:)

WOOHOO! CHEERS FOR BARACK!
:)

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