Scenes From a Polling Place

I went to vote this morning, before work.  On the way into the building, I had to run the usual gauntlet of people wanting to hand me paper.  But there was one guy on the end, who didn’t have a handout; he had a hand out.  It was one of my district’s state delegates, Sandy Rosenberg.  This was a guy I like; I remembered that he got a high rating from NARAL, so he was all right with me.

He shook my hand and urged me to vote for him and the Democratic ticket for governor.  I clapped him on the shoulder and said, “You got it.”

It’s nice to provide positive reinforcement for a politician once in a while.

Anyway, there wasn’t a big crowd so I essentially walked into an empty school, but for one police officer, a youngish white guy.  He saw me and immediately groaned.  I first thought that he noticed my Steelers jacket and was lamenting the ass-whippin’ they laid on the Ratbirds Sunday night.  But since my jacket was black, with a black logo, I didn’t see how he could have seen it, from as far away from as he was. 

Then he called out, “I haaaaate that hat!”

I forgot I was wearing a Penguins hat.  Not one to let a moment go, I said, “Wow, I didn’t think there was anyone else in this town that cared about hockey.”

He replied, “I’m a huge Flyers fan!”

This time it was my turn to groan.  Then I said, “I didn’t know they let Flyers fans have guns!”

Talk about tempting police brutality…

He said, “Man, I HATE the Penguins, but I sure like playing there.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that.  Sure, he could be complimenting the Pens’ exquisite arena, but more likely, he was talking about the Flyers’ outstanding record (9-2-1) when playing there.  But not wanting to inflame an armed Flyers fan, I wished him well and went on my way to the voting booth.

I plan on watching the Pens tonight and then turning on CNN to watch the election returns.  I probably ought to pour myself a nice stiff drink too, because it sure doesn’t look good for my team.  I’ll be amazed if the Democrats manage to retain control of the Senate.

Sure, a lot of predictions went awry in 2012, but things were different.  Despite the fuck-ton of money spent, it was a Presidential election, so turnout was high.

The GOP has had a couple more years of Citizens United under their belts, so the money is spewing forth from the Koch brothers and other anonymous One Percenters.

More importantly, they’ve laid the groundwork to keep Democratic turnout low.  First, they got major portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 repealed, (by the Republican-appointed justices), which opens the door wide for red states to enact all the parlor tricks there were prohibited from doing in the past, to deter seniors, minorities and young people from voting.

If Democrats suggested any of these voter ID requirements to be presented prior to buying a gun, there would be right-wing riots in the streets.  Because in America, the right to a lethal weapon supersedes the right to vote!

Between the voter suppression tactics and the natural dip in voter enthusiasm in a mid-term election, they’ve stacked the deck for themselves quite nicely.  And the barrage of campaign ads are hard at work trying to convince people that now that we’re out of the Great Recession, it’s time to elect people espousing the same policies that caused it in the first place, because, well, Ebola.  And Benghazi.  Socialism!

Anyway, we’ll see what happens on the other side.  Cheers!