show a little humanity. oh and VOTE.

So (unlike two years ago) the people in my elementary-school gym were able to locate my name and I voted. At 6:00 a.m. The line was out the door and people weren't bothering to wait for a booth. Instead we lined up and colored in our circles on the stage where I reprised the role of Calamity Jane and sang festive holiday songs on risers more than 20 years ago. Ah, the memories.

Jazz came to town from New York this weekend to help out with Obama's campaign, and she's going to crash at our place tonight after the huge outdoor rally at Grant Park. Thanks to her I was able to sign up for a ticket in time, and H will be my +1 guest. Jazz didn't want her +1 to go to waste, so she put it up on craigslist to see what people would offer.

My invite, which I couldn't get to print out without getting cut up onto two pages. Stupid yahoo mail.

A lot of them offered cash, but Jazz didn't want money, she wanted a reason why the person deserved the chance to go. The one who made the best case is a poor grad student wanting entry for her best friend, a guy who has volunteered extensively for the campaign and actually made and hands out little "Vote for Obama" cards. Jazz was touched by the girl's offers of baked goods and/or a kidney, and the grad student's faith in the goodness of people was restored when she found out Jazz wasn't accepting money. What sealed the deal, however, was their offer to go to the park this afternoon and hold our place in line, even though the girl doesn't have a +1 for herself.* For an event like this, when the news is reporting that people have been standing around out there since SUNRISE, it's certainly a priceless offer.

So we're going to grab some food tonight after work, leave all our bags at the condo and walk down sometime this evening to meet up with this sweet grad student and her enthusiastic friend. I'm sure I'll be twittering about it, so let me apologize in advance for the barrage of updates later tonight.

Personally, I am not sure which way the night is going to go. As Chicago Public Radio put it this morning: Either way this race ends, we'll have the first African-American, first 72-year-old, first woman and/or the first Biden. I'm pretty pumped about just being at the rally because a) It's one of the few perks about living downtown for me right now b) I've never been to a political rally** c) It's something I'll be proud to tell my kids I experienced years from now, regardless of the outcome.

I just hope nobody (attendees AND security) does anything stupid.




*Anyone have an extra +1 or know someone who does? Email me. cadiztwelve[at]gmail[dot]com. **UPDATE** through the kindness of a coworker of my former former former former coworker whom I bumped into on the train last night, the grad student now has a ticket, too!

**I did see Obama up-close at a professional conference I attended this summer, but he was mostly answering questions and not flexing too many of his oratorical muscles.