Voters, ralliers, rain turn out

As light began to fill out the sky over Oakland yesterday morning, everything appeared normal…. As light began to fill out the sky over Oakland yesterday morning, everything appeared normal. But soon, as the morning became warmer, it became clear that it would not be a normal day.

Major intersections were alive with chants of support for presidential candidates and the honking replies of passing cars. A number of Pitt students and Oakland residents spent the day trying to gather last-minute votes for President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

“It’s just such an important election,” Pitt senior Taku Ohkawa said. “There’s so much up for grabs.”

Ohkawa waved a cardboard Kerry-Edwards sign to drivers on Fifth Avenue at the Bigelow Boulevard intersection, amid several Bush-Cheney supporters. Nearly colliding several times, each side tolerated the other.

“We can’t change each others’ minds,” one Bush campaigner said. “I’m just glad we can get along.”

As the temperate weather gave way to a downpour, picketers switched to waving plastic lawn signs, but senior Tracey Doven continued to clutch a giant “Vote Bush” poster until the saturated paper began to fall apart.

The rain ceased, returning briefly a few times during the day. Activists supporting parties or candidates, or simply encouraging others to vote, peopled the streets for hours, even after the polls closed.

The requests from both major candidates that everyone vote were honored, with some people asking nearly everyone they met during the day if they had voted. Thousands of Pitt students, many of them voting for the first time, waited hours to pull levers.

“It’s so inspiring to see everyone out here,” said Amy Anders, as she held a sign reading “Honk If You’ve Voted.”

“I don’t even care who wins, as long as lots of people send a message that they care,” she added.

As the gray light left the city and the lines coming out of the polls remained, one of the only things each side could agree on was that yesterday was history in the making, and that everybody wanted to be a part of it, even if it meant being caught in the rain.