SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

ELECTION DAY PHOTOS

I knew Tuesday would be a crazy Election Day when I got in the car and passed this scene on the way to work:

Cars along Lithia-Pinecrest? Outside a church on a Tuesday?

Must be a polling place.


The line was crazy long. Kept running out into the parking lot. Voters were having to dodge cars coming and going.


Then I went past another. And three more. Same images. Total mob scene.


Then I drove past the intersection of Lumsden and Kings. A gaggle of teen Bushlets were waving signs and yelling at traffic.

At 7 a.m.

On a school day.

Weird.


I figured I'd vote after work. I guessed that everyone would get it out of their system by noon.

I was wrong. The same scenerio played out on the ride home.


You could tell something momentous was happening. The only time we wait in lines like this in Florida are when we want to get into Disney World, when we want to get into a football game, or when we're trying to buy ice after hurricanes.

Oh, and for early-bird specials in Boca Raton.


Once I got to my poll, there were about 35 people in line ahead of me. After I arrived, about a dozen went and filed behind me.

People were reading their sample ballots. They were carrying newspaper editorial pages with voting recommendations. They were reading books. They were making quiet, polite small talk.

There were no epithets. There were no fist fights. No one slurred ideologies (except for a woman who stood out by the road with a "Fire the Liar" sign). This for all practical purposes was a shining example of what America is supposed to be: Democracy in action.

Amazing day, really. Can't say I'm happy about all the results. A lot of the candidates and ideas I cared about went down in defeat.

But if this is what an energized populace looks like, I'm all for it.

Posted by Jeff at November 4, 2004 08:04 AM | TrackBack