the trenches

I'm composing this entry having waited just under four hours to vote. I'm in Tampa, Florida, and am an attorney pollwatcher for the DNC. I can afford the wait. There are 900 people here, some of whom will wait for over six hours. It is inspiring -- a fellow DNC volunteer talks about it on talkingpointsmemo better than I can here.

We are here on the good side. We're trying to help the less fortunate, preserve the environment, go to war less often. The other side is the selfish side: keep more for ourselves, exploit whatever needs to be exploited, "get real" about human aggression.

The other side also hasn't provided enough voting machines - anywhere in the county. Hence the six hour line. Some volunteers have ponied up their own money and bought pizza and sodas for the voters, who wait here, and who are determined. The district where I am is 90% African American. In line on Friday, after about 2 1/2 hours, one person said "Al Sharpton said: The previous generation walked 25 miles to vote, and then they weren't sure if it can count. I can sure wait three hours."

This shouldn't be the civics lesson - that voting is hard. But it is incredibly moving how much these people care, and how they will not have their rights trampled again. We are going to win this election.