PRIMARY COVERAGE: Three cheers for democracy

I voted!

This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. After all, a lot of people voted. I can… I voted!

This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. After all, a lot of people voted. I can attest to this because I stood in a line at Soldiers ‘ Sailors Memorial, which I’ve never had to do before. Granted, it was only about 15 people long, but I consider that to be a pretty good turnout. And then, walking around campus, I saw a large proportion of the student body wearing little “I voted today” stickers, so I’m guessing they voted, too. Either that or they are liars.

Of course, I saw a lot of people walking around without stickers as well. But it was a significantly lower number than I saw walking around without them in 2006, when the senatorial elections were held. I remember feeling conspicuous in my voting sticker – one of the few people who had one – and when it fell off my shirt a few hours later because of adhesive that wasn’t quite up to the task, I just left it.

The high proportion of stickers was heartening – so heartening, in fact, that I’ve concluded that people are election-crazy at this point. We can’t hear enough about the candidates. They’re like rock stars to us, celebrities just as huge as Brad Pitt and Jessica Alba.

I can attest to this, not only because of the high number of voting stickers I saw yesterday and the fact that I had to wait in a line to vote, but also because on Monday I happened to be on Upper Campus. Near Chevron, the science building, I came across a huge line of people just chilling on the sidewalk in a long line.

“What are you waiting in line for?” I asked innocently.

“The Barack rally!” someone screamed at me, which incited a cheer from the 15 or so people nearby.

“But isn’t that in the Pete?” I asked.

They confirmed that it was, mostly with more cheering. I walked down the line toward the Pete, and I can personally attest that it was more than a trillion miles long. It put the lines for basketball games and rock concerts to shame. All this for a political candidate. Not even a presidential candidate yet, just a candidate who might become a presidential candidate. I was stunned.

I mean, I know that this is a big election, but whoa.

I’m not that much of a political fan, but that’s exactly what this was: fandom. It was close to the same level of devotion that you get with the people who dress up in Stormtrooper outfits at comic book conventions.

Compared to that, I’m downright apathetic. In fact, to my shame, I even accidentally misregistered myself and had to fill out a new registration form at the polling station before I could vote. True fans sneered at me for being so lazy, but the people manning the station were very helpful and friendly, to the point where I could tell there was a certain amount of stress under their niceness.

When it came time to actually vote, the technician guy who ran the machines was extremely helpful as well, making sure I understood the concept that the screen was a touch screen and I only had to touch it to make it work. The only button was the big one at the top that blinked red and said “VOTE” on it. He was very clear on this point, and I got to thinking that maybe he’d had to deal with a lot of people that day as well.

All of this is great. It’s wonderful to see stressed poll employees and hundreds of stickers walking around telling me who voted. I saw a huge pile of empty sticker sheets sitting in the trashcan by Soldiers ‘ Sailors. The political apathy that has afflicted our generation until now might finally be wearing off.

The Democratic candidates this year have done what no amount of “Rock the Vote” and celebrity endorsements could do: They made themselves popular across demographics and got people interested in the political situation of the country. I might not be hugely motivated by politics, but this election has made me care deeply about who wins both the nominations and the general election. It’s changed America back into a political society, where large numbers of people care about what happens to the government in the future. And they will have their say in it.

If you went out and voted yesterday, good for you. You contributed to the rise of a new movement in American society. You’re doing your duty to remake the world in the way that you want it to be. Congratulations and thank you.

And if you didn’t vote