I was in line at the Belle Meade City Hall at 8 AM to cast my ballot as the first day of Tennessee's early voting dawned bright and clear. The line wasn't too long and moved quite quickly. In fact, the longest part of the process was reading the two Metro charter amendments on the ballot. I voted yes on both.
In what will surely be the most unsurprising statement I'll make on my blog I voted the straight Democratic ticket (Barack Obama, Bob Tuke, Jim Cooper and, in the case of my State House District, Gary Odom). It was exciting given the interest this election has generated, but I'm one of that dying breed that finds voting in EVERY election exciting because of the privilege we have in choosing our leaders.
Like virtually everyone else I expect Obama to win Davidson County and lose Tennessee. A majority of the folks in this relatively poor state will once again vote against their own economic self-interest, convinced that one day Republicans will make them rich too and that Democrats are traitors, terrorists, baby killers and devil worshipers. I've tried to tell some of them that we're really pretty nice once you get to know us, but it may take several years before they realize we don't have horns and cloven hooves.
I am not complacent about the momentum Obama apparently has but I agree with the conventional wisdom that he's primed to win the White House unless a whopper of an October surprise emerges. Obviously I'll gladly take being part of a national majority while I'm a minority voter in the Volunteer State.
UPDATE: Wow. Davidson County had its largest first-day Early Voting total ever (though for the record we've only been doing this since 1994).
No comments:
Post a Comment