The Political Whore

Bay area folks aren’t the only ones who consider Old Seminole Heights a noteworthy neighborhood. This Old House, the home improvement rag and PBS TV series, has selected 51 neighborhoods across the country that “have promising futures and homes that truly deserve a long-term commitment,” and Seminole Heights made the cut. In fact, the historic mid-Tampa neighborhood was chosen by the editors as one of the 10 best. (Photo courtesy of TOH and taken by Mike Pease.) The July/August “Best Old-House Neighborhoods” issue hit newsstands June 29; you can see the complete release and breakdown of winning cities after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

10:40: Just got back from the Blue Lucy party in Southside St. Pete. It was pretty quiet as I headed down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Street. No cavorting or wild celebrations spilling into the streets – but somehow a sense of anticipation pervaded.

Blue Lucy artists/partners Phillip Clark and Chad Mize greeted me at the door, treating me to a cocktail and a Pepsi-style Obama pin (”The Choice of a New Generation”), and introducing me to a mish-mash of friends – Eddie from Lounge Cat, Damian, a lawyer who’d done some volunteer work for the Obama campaign, and Beau (admittedly his middle name), also an Obama campaign volunteer who glowed with his hope and expressed his happiness about how everything was going. A TV was set up on the back patio with the returns, everyone watching casually and chatting about the future. Presiding over it all was a Pinata Palin — glasses, red marmy dress and shiny shoes, stuffed with toy soldiers and other apropos accessories – hanging from a palm tree. She’d apparently taken a week to construct and hadn’t yet been bashed to oblivion by the time I left, though I could feel the moment building.

MSNBC has just confirmed Obama as the winner. Time to head to the kegger at Pickett’s.

Election parties around the Bay area:

Beach Theatre runs live local and national coverage of election night returns on its big screen throughout the night. Admission is free. 7 p.m., 315 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, 727-360-6697.

Skipper’s Smokehouse celebrates late roots/Americana artist Jim “Squealin” McNealon with a Memorial Tribute Concert featuring Ronny Elliott, Johnny G. Lyon, Urbane Cowboys, Big Wiggler, Waz, and Bunko Squad, with election returns monitored and reported throughout the evening. 7 p.m., 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, free admission.

Tampa Bay’s 10 News Anchor Reginald Roundtree broadcasts live from an Election Celebration at Push Ultra Lounge in St. Petersburg. Watch the polls close and the returns come in from now until midnight, and enjoy happy hour prices – $3 domestics, wells, and margaritas, and $4 wines. 128 Third St. S., free admission.

St. Petersburg – Republican Party of Florida, Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee, and McCain-Palin 2008 host an Election Night Party at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park. 8-10 p.m., 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg.

Got more, let us know in the comments.

I woke up excited and nervous. While I didn’t have any trouble voting in the previous few elections, my husband was turned away both times due to ongoing address issues; he submitted an address change on three separate occasions, but none were ever recorded anywhere official. This time around, we had proper voter ID’s in hand when we took the short walk to our local precinct in St. Petersburg, the Dwight H. Jones Neighborhood Center, which is located in the heart of a city-operated low- and mid-income housing community and across the street from two many-storied assisted living facilities.

The line was short, primarily made up of minorities, and everyone was in good spirits. We all seemed to be on the same boat — not a McCain supporter to be found – and all of us agreed that change was in the air.

My hubbie and I made it to the first pollworker table together and both of us had pollworker-related problems almost at once. I signed “LPolk” next to my name and knew I’d made a mistake as soon as the woman compared it to my license signature, which read “Leilani Polk.” The woman damn near had a heart attack when she saw what I’d done and spent the next few minutes anxiously hemming and hawing.

“I’ll just write out my first name,” I said lamely, but just as I scrawled an “L,” she snatched the book away from me, freaked out a little more, then firmly lectured me on the laws and how she could get in trouble and did I know that my signature had to look exactly as it did on my license? But then she talked herself down, admitting that she was the only one who’d see both sigs and after I pleaded with her to let me vote, she relented and let me through.

Phil’s pollworker couldn’t find his name in her book. When she asked if he’d moved recently and he answered yes, she started to tear off a provisional ballot. This was just as they’d found my name in the book. “Woah, Woah, woah, hold on there a minute — my wife moved at the same time and she’s in there,” he told his pollworker. That’s when he found out she wasn’t even looking at the right name. His last name is “Bardi”; she mistakenly looked up “Baron.” Once she had the right name, we were set and we both voted successfully.