The Political Whore

(Photo credit: Bobster1985)

This is the launchpad for all CL election coverage. The Loaf staff has fanned out across the Bay area to keep eyes and ears locked on voting sites, candidate rallies, election parties and spontaneous outpourings of joy/grief in the streets. Keep it locked here all day and night. And if you haven’t already, get out there and vote! Download and print our ballot guides here.

1:47 A.M.: Brian Blair well behind challenger Kevin Beckner as vote tabulating stalls in Hillsborough County, in a battle for better conservation and dignity for LGBT residents.

1:01 A.M.: One last thing. Just got this text message: “We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion to this campaign. All of this happened because of you. Thanks, Barack.” I’m not worthy …

1:00 A.M.: I’ve just been taking it all in for the last hour. History. Amazing. Now, I’m going to fall asleep watching the replay of Comedy Central’s Indecision ‘08, which I missed the first time around. Good night all.

12:05 P.M.: Obama speaking now.

11:46 P.M.: Wayne reporting in from the Beckner party: “Phyllis Busansky was just here and she said it’s a slow process counting the Hillsborough votes. Officials are having to bring the machines in from precincts to do the job.” Garcia characterized Beckner as “real unhappy with the situation.”

11:44 P.M.: Obama set to speak around midnight EST.

11:30 P.M.: David Warner reports the streets of Ybor resounding with cheers of “OBAMA! OBAMA!”

11:28 P.M.: McCain closes a classy concession speech. I think McCain did his best work this campaign in the last five days.

11:18 P.M.: McCain concedes!

11:16 P.M.: NBC calls Florida for Obama.

11:10 P.M.: Leilani checks in, in between parties in St. Pete.

11:07 P.M.: Results from the other big race: Calrissian vs. Palpatine.

11:06 P.M.: We’re popping a bottle of Champaign here at Election Central.

11:00 P.M.: Obama called the winner by NBC!

10:51 P.M.: NBC hints they will call the election at 11 p.m.!

10:50 P.M.: David Warner reports in from the Kevin Beckner election party in Ybor.

Plus: News from earlier in the day and that fancy MSNBC voting widget thingy we’re trying out are after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

This in from Alex Pickett @ 5:50 p.m. (All photos by Alex):

It’s the final hour, folks. And the polls are starting to fill up again in St. Pete as people stop by after work. Those Obama supporters are now lining the main roads to polling places, most notably Fourth Street North. And the honking … just .. won’t … stop.

The whole afternoon was fairly quiet — except at St. Pete’s Obama HQ.

Read the rest of this entry »

While waiting in the (interminable) line to vote today, I heard some interesting and unexpected commentary from my fellow voters. Since my precinct is at the USF Tampa campus, I expected most of the students voting with me to be Obama supporters. On my way into the polling site at the Marshall Center, I saw a crowded Obama booth distributing “I Voted For Change” stickers and volunteers passing out pro-Obama fliers. There was nary a McCain/Palin supporter in sight.

So much to my surprise and annoyance, all of the 18-20-year-old female voters surrounding me in line were staunch McCain supporters. That is, if you can call people who just vote the same ticket as their parents “staunch supporters.”

To save my voting mates the embarrassment that I hope they will someday experience for their insane “Decision ‘08″ I will call them Girl 1 and Girl 2. Girl 1 told us that her roommate tried to convince her to vote Obama, asking why she would vote for a candidate who wouldn’t help her in any way.

“That’s just great,” Girl 1 said. “If we all voted for the candidate who would benefit us personally, we would be screwed. We have to vote for who is best for the country as a whole.”

Oh, really? A McCain supporter is making the argument that he’s the best candidate for the country as a whole, and not just for a small fraction of American citizens? That’s rich. But it got better (and by better I mean much, much worse) when Girl 2 decided to share her political beliefs. Which exactly mirror the beliefs of her parents.

She said that she joked that she would be voting for Obama, to which her loving mother replied that she wouldn’t “if you want a place to come home to.” I had the pleasure of hearing Girl 2’s phone conversation with her mother, whom she called to ask how she voted on the amendments (so that she could be sure to vote the same way.) MOG2 (Mother of Girl 2) had apparently misunderstood the language in several of them and voted incorrectly.

I’ll be the first to admit that the language is confusing, but it’s a frustrating truth that many voters don’t make the time or effort to educate themselves before they enter the polling booth, and instead vote blindly. On a positive note, I’m hoping this means that MOG2 accidentally voted “No” on Amendment 2.

Girl 2 continued to regale us with her political history, saying that when her third grade class held mock elections in 1996, she “already knew she was a republican.” Yes, because 8-year-olds have the cognitive development to make important life decisions.

Girl 2 apparently never progressed from that third grade mental state, as she then proceeded to call her father to ensure that she was voting “correctly” on everything. Because, you know, people shouldn’t inform themselves about the issues and make up their own minds when answers are just a phone call or text away.

(See Franki’s other election report here.)

For weeks, I had heard about the long lines for early voting, a lot of it from my colleagues, some of whom waited two hours or more.

With each new tale, I became more and more committed to … voting on Election Day. Now there’s an idea!

I felt sure I would be redeemed by a short, efficient trip to the voting booth. Hoping to miss the rush hour, I chose to show up about 9:15 a.m. at my precinct in northeast St. Pete. How did it all work out? Did I turn out to be smarter than my co-workers? Here’s a quick video diary of my Election Day experience.

This in @ 1:15 p.m. from Alex Pickett:

Crescent Lake, 8 a.m.

UPDATE @ 3 p.m.: “The day is growing darker and the lines, well, the lines at most polling places I’ve been to in St. Pete are non-existent. Poll workers say that’s normal for other elections,  but this is supposed to be an extraordinary election. Are all the voters working day jobs and plan to slam the polls after 5 p.m.? Or were the pundits wrong about the highest election turnout in 40 years?”

This in at 12:45 p.m. from Staff Writer Alex Pickett:

“It’s an overcast, chilly day in St. Pete — perfect for standing outside your voting place. There are only half-hour to an hour waits at most St. Pete poll places I’ve been to. After the morning rush, which saw hour to two hour wait times, many of the sign wavers have taken a lunch break, too. Interesting fact for would-be voters this afternoon: Voters are telling me if your address on your I.D. does not match, that’s OK if you are at the polling place of your registered address (make sense?). A few poll workers didn’t understand this and some people had some trouble where I voted, but everything was eventually worked out.

On the streets, there’s a lot of traffic and a lot of McCain sign wavers. Where are the Obama people?”

CL Soundboard guru Franki Weddington is reporting four-hour wait times to vote at the USF Marshall Center.

“They said that part of the problem is that people are taking a really long time because they don’t know anything about the amendments they are voting on. Poll workers are going around and handing out descriptions of all the amendments. Most people brought friends and newspapers. Fortunately I brought a crossword. I’ve been in line for 45 minutes and I’ve moved 10 feet. People are squatting, sitting down, hanging out. It seems like everyone is pretty resigned and happy. I’m surprised at how little bitching I’ve heard. People just expected this I guess.”

UPDATE: Franki called in just before 2:15 p.m. to report she had finally finished voting, and it ended up taking only (!) about two and a half hours. The lines are still long, but the officials at the Marshall Center were brining in more privacy booths to augment the paltry 15 they had at the beginning of the day.

Great quotes from Election Day ‘08:

“Either way, they’re gonna burn things. Either in celebration or anger. Look at Philadelphia.” Middle-aged white guy at Tiny Tap Tavern in SoHo watching Fox News coverage of the election, as reported by Wade Tatangelo.

“You know, Alex, our country is in really bad shape and I really think the black guy can fix it. I can’t vote, but in my heart, I’m voting for Obama.” — my 84-year-old grandmother (voting registration confusion caused her to miss the registering deadline)

“I certainly don’t think he speaks for the residents of Hills­borough County. I think he speaks for the demons in his head.” —Mitch Kates on David Caton, notorious gay-baiter whose robo-calls to Hillsborough voters attempt to raise fears about county commission candidate Kevin Beckner. Kates is Beckner’s campaign manager.

“Record voter turnout!” — Barista at downtown St. Pete Starbucks, when asked what the response had been to the chain’s Election Day free-coffee promotion. Several members of St. Pete’s homeless population were taking advantage of the offer this morning, though it was not clear whether they’d voted.

“I don’t think he really voted for it. I think he said that he voted for it but in the privacy of the booth, he voted against it- Its called the ‘Elton John Effect’” — Commenter Tim on St. Pete Times report about Gov. Crist announcing he voted Yes on Amendment 2.

“Everyone coming out of their polling place smiles and sighs before walking to their car. I mean, everyone.” —Staff Writer Alex Pickett reporting on polling locations in St. Pete.

“Can you believe it? I’m giddy with relief!” —Scott Walterman, morning anchor on XM Radio’s POTUS08, breathlessly commenting on the fact that Election Day 08 had finally arrived. POTUS is XM’s all-presidential-race, all-the-time channel. (As reported by Editor David Warner.)

Check back for updates throughout the day!

Tonight’s the night! After two frickin’ years of Barack and McCain, Hillary and Huckabee, “bitter” and “you betcha!,” it’s finally election day. Get out there an vote! Your country needs you. In the meantime, here’s NBC’s great Chuck Todd on what to look for after the polls close.

• Your polling location: For Hillsborough residents, for Pinellas residents.
• Got voting questions? Here’s the answers.
• Bring on the sports metaphors: The candidates turn up on Monday Night Football.
• If McCain’s going to win, this is how.
• If Obama loses, “It would mark the biggest collective error in the history of the media and political establishment.”
• It’s election day: Free coffee and donuts for everyone!
• Instant nostalgia: The New York Times remembers Election ‘08.
• R.I.P. Obama’s Grandmother. Madelyn Dunham.