The people we met were so incredibly supportive and excited about this historic day, most enduring long lines early yesterday m0rning to cast their votes. I will try to collect and recite the stories that made my experience so wonderful, because I think it's best told through their eyes.
At 6:40 am, a full twenty minutes before the polls opened, we stepped outside our hotel to this line, already two blocks long, across a Center City side street. A group of Obama volunteers paraded up and down the line, singing songs, distributing coffee, and eliciting cheers.
In the afternoon, in Southwest Philly, We encountered a brigade of children marching to a church with their teachers chanting, "Kids vote! Kids vote" holding handmade Obama signs.
At dusk, we knocked on the door of an elderly woman who had just returned from work as part of our final push to deliver the 3rd Ward of Southwest Philly. Speaking in a whisper, she told us, "My boss said I couldn't talk about who I supported, that I couldn't let anyone know that I voted for Obama this morning. But I did, I voted at 6:30. And it's incredible."Catherine, my friend and partner for the day, smiled and said, "It's OK, you can shout it out now!" Then, she raised her voice to the quiet neighborhood and called out, "Obama!!!"
The older woman grinned, and then on cue, all three of us belted into the street, "OBAMA!"
As we left her house and moved on down the block, we could hear her calling out through her closed door, "Obama! Obama!"
***
I don't know if I've ever laughed and sobbed simultaneously before, but last night was a first for a lot of things. What a wonderful day we have created.
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