Red State/Blue State

Every four years, the Presidential election comes down to a handful of states. This year it was Florida, Ohio (again), Iowa and my own new state of residence Virginia. All eyes of the pundits and the nation were fixed on the polls in my area, the phone rang constantly with the pleas of campaigners to get out and vote for their guy and don't even get me started on the non-stop commercials on TV. It was an overwhelming feeling to watch a state that was considered a stalwart bastion of Republicans go blue and know that I did that. Yes, me and a few hundred thousand others, but it mattered that I went to that poll and chose Obama/Biden.

In 1996 I had just turned 18. Bill Clinton was running for his second term and I did not vote. What was the point? I asked myself. As a New York resident voting Democrat it would hardly matter.

In 2000 I was living in Charleston, SC and Bush was running against Al Gore. I was still a registered New York voter, so I sent in my absentee ballot because I loved Al Gore, but still I had that feeling- what could this matter?

In 2004 I was still in South Carolina, but now as a resident- and what's more I was pissed. Anyone alive in that time can remember- if they will allow themselves- the amazing change our country underwent in those four years. Yes, a large part of that change was thrust upon us by the terrorist attacks of 2001, but certainly Bush had no small part in it either. I remember with clarity watching as the majority of the international community first embraced us and offered whatever help they could, and then were slowly alienated and turned away as they refused to succumb to the outlandish demands of our Executive Branch. I went to the polls and voted for John Kerry with an air of desperation, not only because I felt our country needed a massive shift before things got any worse, but because I knew that I was- to use a phrase I love- just a little blue dot in a sea of red. I could have voted for Ronald McDonald and it would have hardly mattered, I felt. South Carolina would go red, as always and as it did.

2008. I find myself a registered Democrat in Virginia. No more can I tell myself that it hardly matters which way I vote. No more can I think my vote will be lost in a sea of red or blue. My vote- my vote- was critical. Watching the early Virginia precincts come in red, I sat on my couch biting my nails. Then came the Richmond precincts- blue for the most part. Then northern Virginia- MY Virginia. Blue. Across the board blue. Enough to turn the whole state! I could cry just thinking about this. In fact, I am.

But there's more…

For anyone who thinks as I once did- that in a sea of red or blue your vote one way or another can hardly make a difference- take a look at this: 55,933, 744 v. 63, 284, 367. That is the tally of the popular vote. If you voted, your number is in there. Without you that number would be 63, 284, 366.

It's true we don't elect our Presidents using these numbers. But imagine, if you will, that in six months President Obama will be able to ask Congress to pass legislation because it's what the people have indicated we want by electing him in the first place. Seven million more people chose him to lead, seven million more people set our faith that he would make the right choices for us.

Seven million people combined with 338 electoral votes is a mandate, it's a landslide, it is- because I love this phrase, too- a come to Jesus moment for the Republican party and the entire nation. And that's you. And that's me. And that, in my opinion, is pretty cool.