know hope.

[kaigou]

Andrew Sullivan ran a series yesterday called "view from your election," where people wrote in with short bits about their voting experience. Some are inspiring, some a bit funny, some mundane, but this one hit me the hardest.

I voted here in San Francisco's Noe Valley neighborhood about two hours ago. It took about an hour to get through the line, and while standing there I was chatting with the 75-year-old retired cop in front of me, and the young 30-something gay couple in front of him, who had their two little girls in tow.

Everyone was in good spirits as the conversation moved from the Obama-McCain contest to the farce that is Sarah Palin, and then on to non-political matters, like the road work being done on the next block. The conversation between the cop and the couple started to get animated toward the end of our hour in line as the three men began to discuss the current football season, wagering bets for this weekend's games and making predictions for the Super Bowl.

And then, as we entered the firehouse that doubled as our polling place, as the couple and their daughters stepped out of line and up to the table to receive their ballots, I observed the cop in front of me. He opened his sample ballot, took out his pen, scribbled out his "yes" vote on Proposition 8, and filled in the ballot line for "no."

h/t to andrew

Don't give up the fight, Cali. We can change the world, and we will. Brick by brick, block by block... and heart by heart.

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Oh. Thank you. That's gorgeous.

[ldragoon.livejournal.com]

Don't worry! Progressive Californians aren't beaten yet. :) We're still going to fight.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

Please do not make me cry in the conference room.

[miyabiarashi.livejournal.com]

Although I'm not from CA, I'm disappointed, but knowing that there are already lawyers getting all over this still has me going, "we're not done, not yet."

[recession.livejournal.com]

Never give up, never surrender. That's the only way we can make this change. Agreed 100%.

[musickal.livejournal.com]

beautiful!

[windsorblue.livejournal.com]

People forget - even people who live here in CA - that there are huge chunks of geography between the traditionally more liberal area of San Francisco and the theoretically liberal Los Angeles. San Diego County and Orange County have been big-C Conservative for generations. Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Inyo...the majority of the Central CA region...all of it trends Conservative and has for years. To our detriment, Progressives tend to think that we can carry the day by winning over Hollywood and the Bay Area, and time and time again it's proven that we can't. Add that to the fact that it's stupid easy for anyone with an axe to grind and cash to blow to get an initiative on the ballot, and there you go. We are not grinding our own axes nearly often enough.

Every time I read or hear someone talking about us craaaazy lib'rals in California, I want to ask them if they can name the Presidents who have come from CA.

So in other words, I'm deeply disappointed, but entirely unsurprised.

[mikkeneko.livejournal.com]

Also, I think that people are confusing 'votes democratic' with 'trends liberal.' There are large parts of the demographics -- especially the immigrant communities -- that vote blue but are socially very conservative.

[ladyshina.livejournal.com]

It is a beautiful story. Things *can* change through one person at a time.

[ramenkuri.livejournal.com]

that's a great story!