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Published: November 24th 2008
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Another election out of my voting area. It seems to be a trend for me. In the Bush vs. Gore election I was in Cuba. In the Bush vs. Kerry election, I had just arrived in Colorado. In the Bush (I mean, McCain) vs. Obama election, I was in Chonburi, but I VOTED from Ban Phe.
Absentee ballots couldn’t be mailed out until October, so there was no way for me to get mine before I left the States, so it had to come to me in Ban Phe. It arrived with enough time to get back there, assuming that everything went well with the mail. Of course I was extremely excited to vote for the next president, especially since it seemed that Colorado really did have a shot at going “blue” this year, but there were also some state elections that I wanted to voice my opinion in. There were some very nasty and absurd TV ads against Mark Udall before I left, done by Bob Schaffer. There was one where a man actually came out of a VW bus that was filled with smoke. I think he was dressed like an aged hippie. The end said something like,
Filled-in ballot
Notice all the party choices for president. I never realized there were so many! My favorite is the last one, but it is a little cut off. It said "Boston Tea Party." “Do you really want a BOULDER LIBERAL to run your government?” or something similar, but “Boulder liberal” was said with such disgust that you’d think that what they really wanted to say was “baby murderer” or “elder abuser.” I was happy that some other people in the TEFL group had made sure to secure their absentee ballots in Thailand (including the couple from Boulder, of course!), and I think with all the talk about it, some others were inspired to try to do so.
I didn’t have the usual glued-to-the-TV nail-biting version of the election results this year, where they continually flash the red, blue and not-yet assigned color states. I would have liked to have located a TV to watch the results, Thai or not, but I was in school as the polls were closing on Tuesday night, U.S. time. My dutiful friend, Fiona, was sending me update texts from NYC. One text said that there were screams in the streets with each new state that went to Obama. The best one was, “They called it! Obama is President! And Dems got Senate too! Holy shit!” I read that text around11:15 AM my time. I was in one-on-one
class with Spice, just before lunch, and his mind was clearly on the upcoming meal more than on science. Well, when I read that text, I was pretty overcome and had to stifle my tears of joy. I truly lost focus on the lesson altogether and decided it was best just to end the lesson a little early for the day. I got celebratory texts from Stephanie and Courtney, too, but even with these three confirmations I still needed to confirm for myself via cnn.com. I didn’t want to face a Gore-like about-face. But when I got on the internet it was immediately clear that the election was hands-down won by Obama. Even though I am writing this well after the fact, I get teary-eyed and emotional all over again replaying the lead-up and final confirmations via cell phone texts.
Teacher Rick was very excited about the news, as were Teachers Ruby and Julie, who are from the Philippines. I’m not sure that the other foreign teachers cared. In fact I know that one did not as she was quick to tell me. I was so overcome with joy that I wanted to share it with other people. As I was saying what a good day it was because of the election results, she stopped me dead in my tracks with a rather abrupt, “I don’t care at all about politics. It holds no interest for me whatsoever. And much less American politics since it’s not even my own country. I’ve never voted in my life,” this last said proudly, almost smugly. I wanted to wipe that smug grin off her face. “Unfortunately,” I replied, “American politics has a rather strong impact on the entire world, which is why so many people inside and outside of the country are interested in these election results.” And with that, I walked away, seething a bit, but practicing my “jai yen” (cool heart) and wondering why it would still be a point of pride to have never voted.
I basked in the glow of Obama’s win for the rest of the day, but sadly did not find any English-language newspapers in Chonburi. I should have at least gotten one announcing the results in Thai- it would be a nice keepsake of the historic election (even better when I can read some Thai), but I didn’t have the foresight. I did get to look at the Bangkok Post when I got to Bangkok and read both Obama’s acceptance speech and McCain’s concession speech in print. Wednesday night I felt like going out for a celebration drink, but alas, I didn’t even know where to go in this city. I saw pictures via internet of the street celebrations in Boulder and wished that I could have been transported there just for that night. It would have been really special there.
As I type this, I’m listening to “Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan, which is always a bittersweet song for me since the last presidential election. In that election I voted absentee in PA because I was headed to Colorado, but PA was, as usual, a swing state, and though they also claimed that Colorado was in that election (it went red), PA has more electoral college votes and therefore seemed like a more important state to vote in. Well, that and when I drove out to Colorado I actually didn’t have an address or know for sure where I would live. Paula P. and I were in our bunk beds at the hostel in Denver, the night before she would fly home to PA, thus leaving me alone and friendless in Colorado. I snagged someone’s copy of Rolling Stone and read an interview with John Kerry, the only bit of which I can recall is that one of his favorite musicians of all time is Bob Dylan and that he loves the song “Lay Lady Lay.” After he lost the election (or did he really, Ohio?) I would torture myself by playing the song over and over again as I drove to and from work, in the same funk that seemed to ensconce all of Boulder for at least a couple weeks.
I’m so proud for the first time in a long time. I’m proud of all my states- Colorado, Pennsylvania, and even Virginia! I also checked the results of Colorado’s other races and ballot issues and I was again filled with pride. Boulder County had voted about 75% for Obama and nearly the same percentage for the other races that were of most interest for me, including the Udall race (despite the idiotic attacks by Schaffer). St. Vrain (the school district I was in last year) passed the mill levy for the first time EVER (from what I understand), which means that all my teacher friends in SVVSD will get a much-deserved raise next year. I cried for them, too.
We have a chance now to redeem ourselves for all of the B.S. of the last 8 years and I hope that Obama is indeed able to do so. I don’t envy his job at all (what a mess to clean up!), but I am hopeful that he will be able to deliver.
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