Election Day 2012
Yesterday was Lucy's first Election Day (outside the womb)! As I am grateful for the suffragists who fought so hard for our right to
vote and for the 19th Amendment for making it possible, I was excited to take Lucy with me to vote. It was a beautiful day out, so we walked to our neighborhood polling place.
Inside, we ran into one of Lucy's classmates from school, voting with his Aunt. On the way out, we ran into Alicia, Bregan, and Grayson. And throughout the day, I saw pictures of my friends and their kids going to vote. So great! Sure, Lucy was probably most excited to get a sticker at the end, but it was still important to me that she was part of the process.
What's even better: our guy won! I was happy and relieved after the last election and I'm happy and relieved today. Despite my excitement, there is also a lot of negativity and bitterness out there by people who still don't. get. it. Which means, there is a lot of work to be done. But I don't have time for those people, especially not today.
Today is about pride and gratitude and hope. Women voted, young people voted, and minorities voted, in larger numbers than ever before. The presidential race aside, this was a victory for gender equality, marriage equality, reproductive rights, and...HUMAN rights!
And yes, of course, today is also a day for me to be thankful that Barack Obama will be my president for four more years.
This excerpt from President Obama's acceptance speech last night speaks volumes of the man and why I support him:
"America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America."
Yes.
ETA: Thank you, Rachel Maddow, for summing it up.
Inside, we ran into one of Lucy's classmates from school, voting with his Aunt. On the way out, we ran into Alicia, Bregan, and Grayson. And throughout the day, I saw pictures of my friends and their kids going to vote. So great! Sure, Lucy was probably most excited to get a sticker at the end, but it was still important to me that she was part of the process.
What's even better: our guy won! I was happy and relieved after the last election and I'm happy and relieved today. Despite my excitement, there is also a lot of negativity and bitterness out there by people who still don't. get. it. Which means, there is a lot of work to be done. But I don't have time for those people, especially not today.
Today is about pride and gratitude and hope. Women voted, young people voted, and minorities voted, in larger numbers than ever before. The presidential race aside, this was a victory for gender equality, marriage equality, reproductive rights, and...HUMAN rights!
And yes, of course, today is also a day for me to be thankful that Barack Obama will be my president for four more years.
This excerpt from President Obama's acceptance speech last night speaks volumes of the man and why I support him:
"America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America."
Yes.
ETA: Thank you, Rachel Maddow, for summing it up.
Comments
You are such a great role model for LJ!