I was going to make this a rant about how something didn’t go the way I thought it should go in these elections . . . but everything went almost exactly as how I wanted it to go. So sorry, no rant today. Instead, here is a brief newsfeed chronicling my experience on this glorious Election Day.
7:30 a.m. Alarm goes off. Hit snooze button.
7:40 a.m. Alarm goes off. Hit snooze button again.
7:50 a.m. Alarm goes off. Think about Michelle Obama’s speech last night and manage to summon the energy to get out of bed.
9:00 a.m. Obligatory Election Day Facebook status.
9:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Classes. Blood pressure is higher than usual.
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Lunch with former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. She was the first woman to be elected to Congress from Colorado and is a huge advocate for women’s rights. Feeling politically inspired!
3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Tabling for Joe Saunders, a Democrat running for Florida House District 49 who is a huge advocate of rights for the Hispanic, black, and gay communities, women’s healthcare, and increasing education funding for public schools. I’ve been interning for him throughout this semester. Since February, the campaign has knocked a total of 60,000 doors and made over 130,000 phone calls, making it one of the most successful campaigns in the area.
7:30 p.m. Think about how awesome it would be if same-sex marriage passed for the first time ever on the ballot tonight. When I lived in Maryland, I spread awareness about LGBT issues at my Catholic high school and ended up getting in trouble with the Archdiocese of Baltimore for my efforts. The Catholic Church has been one of the biggest funders for anti-equality groups in the state of Maryland.
8:00 p.m. Drive to the Orange County Democrat Election Party.
9:00 p.m. At Embassy Suites Hotel waiting for the election results with the Joe Saunders team. I feel like I’m in a hospital waiting for a baby to be born. Hopefully, it won’t be an ugly baby.
10:30 p.m. It’s not an ugly baby. Joe Saunders becomes the Representative-Elect for Florida House District 49. Tears of extreme of happiness follow. Many other Florida Democratic candidates won as well, including Senator Bill Nelson, Tax Collector Scott Randolph, and Representative-Elects Karen Castor Dentel and Linda Stewart.
11:22 p.m. In the SunTrust parking garage when my iPhone tells me that Obama has been projected to win the election. I almost pee myself. Almost. Also, more tears of extreme happiness.
11:25 p.m. Realize that I won’t have to break the drinking law and booze myself into a bourbon stupor like I was going to have to do if Romney won.
11:30 p.m. Visit Rollins College Democrat friends. Lots of screaming, crying, and hugging.
11:50 p.m. Learn that same-sex marriage is going to pass in Maine, Washington, and Maryland. So proud of my home state for bringing about a historic turning point for human rights.
12:00 a.m. Reading Donald Trump tweets for amusement. He tweeted, “We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided! Let’s fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice! The world is laughing at us.”
12:15 a.m. Ponder how Romney is vaguely reminiscent of the Mayor of Whoville in the movie version of “The Grinch.”
12:30 a.m. Post seven election statuses on Facebook within ten minutes. I don’t worry what people will think. Everyone who gets annoyed with political statuses defriended me months ago.
1:00 a.m. Waiting for Obama to speak.
1:38 a.m. Watching Obama speak! Favorite Obama quote of the night: “It doesn’t matter if 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.”
2:00 a.m. In a state of shock at how well this election has gone. I admit that I had my doubts, mainly due to the fact that the conservative base tends to enjoy far greater funding than do more liberal candidates and issues. For example, Marco Pena, Joe Saunders’ opponent, had hundreds of thousands of more dollars than Joe, yet he still lost. Luckily, money isn’t everything. It’s nice to know that, despite the cynicism and apathy that some people have towards American politics, the vote of the people still matters.
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