Vote, Goddamnit.
hold me down
i am floating away
into the overcast skies
over my home town
on election day
- Ani Difranco, "Hello Birmingham"
It's Election Eve, and I'm going to get a good night's sleep.
I'm feeling decidedly mixed about that. A little thankful, perhaps, to not be making that final push on a mixture of caffeine and pure adrenaline, strung out from nights upon sleepless nights, to not be nervously anticipating the results of any particular election, to not have a head filled with precinct numbers and turnout predictions. I truly don't think I could have done it again, so soon after my last race. I'm feeling a little thankful for the sanity I have intact right now...and a little thankful I have occasion to remember how precious that sanity truly is.
But also a little helpless, a little useless. I've worked a full election day for, by my count, at least the past seven election days (counting primaries and special elections and the like.) I've been running the GOTV operation for, or at least heavily involved in the planning of, at least five of those. Election night and election day have a special magic for me, a tinge of nostalgia filled with some of the absolute biggest highs I've ever known. And now, this time round, I sit at home at 10:30, blogging -- of all things, blogging! Tomorrow, I'll get up early to vote, then sit at work for nine hours, irritated by my lack of vacation days. Oh, I'll run and do a little last minute phonebanking from 6-8, but that feels like a token, a trifle, compared to the e-days I know and love.
And at 8:15pm or so, when we start to get results, it'll be interesting. I'm excited about Deval Patrick and am looking forward to that win. I've got a few State Rep races I care about - did some work for them, have some friends working on them, etc. And of course the national race for the House and Senate will be both fascinating and, hopefully, cause for celebration. But truth be told, my overall level of investment in any of these races is low. I doubt I will wake up either elated or depressed Wed morning. (Or, as has been the tradition for many past elections, hung over beyond belief...since I've got that pesky non-elections job to go to Wed morning, as well.)
So I feel a bit like the kid who got a fever on Halloween -- sitting at home, all dressed up in costume, knowing my friends are all out there having fun and getting lots of candy. I feel a little like an actor in an audience, watching someone onstage play a role I once played. I feel a little like the high school wallflower during the last slow dance of the night, wishing that one boy (or any boy) would ask me to dance but knowing full well I'll be sitting this one out.
So I'm sitting this one out. But I've got my costume on, kids, and I know the lines by heart...so just you watch, next time. Just you wait.
Oh yeah, and go vote.
i am floating away
into the overcast skies
over my home town
on election day
- Ani Difranco, "Hello Birmingham"
It's Election Eve, and I'm going to get a good night's sleep.
I'm feeling decidedly mixed about that. A little thankful, perhaps, to not be making that final push on a mixture of caffeine and pure adrenaline, strung out from nights upon sleepless nights, to not be nervously anticipating the results of any particular election, to not have a head filled with precinct numbers and turnout predictions. I truly don't think I could have done it again, so soon after my last race. I'm feeling a little thankful for the sanity I have intact right now...and a little thankful I have occasion to remember how precious that sanity truly is.
But also a little helpless, a little useless. I've worked a full election day for, by my count, at least the past seven election days (counting primaries and special elections and the like.) I've been running the GOTV operation for, or at least heavily involved in the planning of, at least five of those. Election night and election day have a special magic for me, a tinge of nostalgia filled with some of the absolute biggest highs I've ever known. And now, this time round, I sit at home at 10:30, blogging -- of all things, blogging! Tomorrow, I'll get up early to vote, then sit at work for nine hours, irritated by my lack of vacation days. Oh, I'll run and do a little last minute phonebanking from 6-8, but that feels like a token, a trifle, compared to the e-days I know and love.
And at 8:15pm or so, when we start to get results, it'll be interesting. I'm excited about Deval Patrick and am looking forward to that win. I've got a few State Rep races I care about - did some work for them, have some friends working on them, etc. And of course the national race for the House and Senate will be both fascinating and, hopefully, cause for celebration. But truth be told, my overall level of investment in any of these races is low. I doubt I will wake up either elated or depressed Wed morning. (Or, as has been the tradition for many past elections, hung over beyond belief...since I've got that pesky non-elections job to go to Wed morning, as well.)
So I feel a bit like the kid who got a fever on Halloween -- sitting at home, all dressed up in costume, knowing my friends are all out there having fun and getting lots of candy. I feel a little like an actor in an audience, watching someone onstage play a role I once played. I feel a little like the high school wallflower during the last slow dance of the night, wishing that one boy (or any boy) would ask me to dance but knowing full well I'll be sitting this one out.
So I'm sitting this one out. But I've got my costume on, kids, and I know the lines by heart...so just you watch, next time. Just you wait.
Oh yeah, and go vote.
posted by Melissa at 10:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home