A reader writes:
My wife and I live in a predominantly blue-collar Irish-Catholic Philly suburban neighborhood where the McCain/Palin signs outnumber Obama/Biden signs at least 5 to 1. I had planned to stay home from work today to vote having been prepped by the news reports of long lines for early voting and knowing that our voting locale was someone’s garage with a single voting machine.
However, as my wife left around 7 am to catch the bus to go into work, she was amazed to find nobody in line.
I was busy preparing my five year-old son for school when my wife called to inform me about the voting situation. After hanging up, I asked my son if he wanted to go with me to vote (he has been obsessed with Barack Obama for about two months much to the consternation of both sets of his very Republican grandparents).
It was one of those incredible moments as a parent that I hope to never forget—walking to the polls with my son in his red and blue voting hat that he made at school yesterday with his incessant questioning about Obama and McCain, his awe at the voting booth and seeing the large list of candidates for political office, and trying to contain the volume of this excited five year old as I agreed to let him help me push the button confirming my vote.