I’m in the eye of the election storm right now. Just got back from the Apex polling place where I’ve been campaigning for Al Swanstrom since 6:30. Things went well except for the bone-chilling drizzle. I came prepared for that with a raincoat and an umbrella, though I didn’t use either of them. More of that in a minute.
The polling place was at the Fairview Rural Fire Department station on Ten-Ten Road. When I arrived at 6:30 there were cars lining both sides of the road. I parked about a quarter-mile away as that was the closest parking place. When I got there there were perhaps a hundred people already waiting inside.
There were few poll greeters around so the time was right to stake out my space. Looking things over, I quickly realized the windows on the fire station’s garage doors provided a wonderful opportunity for voters to see my Al Swanstrom T-shirt, so I took full advantage. I was safely out of the 50-foot no-campaigning line (it was on the other side of the building) so I knew I was legal.
Still, it didn’t stop some old biddy from complaining to the precinct’s chief judge. I saw them talking inside and smiled their way. A moment or two later, the chief judge ambled out to me and gave me a friendly smile.
“Just so you know, ” he said, “there’s been a complaint about your campaigning.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, someone has complained,” he said matter-of-factly. “You’re outside of the 50-foot buffer and all, but I’m supposed to tell you about the complaint.”
I grinned. “Thanks. I’ll take that into account.”
The old biddy came out and began whispering to a Realtor … er, “GOP poll greeter.” I couldn’t resist smiling and waving.
Grasping the top of her coat, the complainer waved a crooked finger in my direction.
“I’m filing a complaint about you!” she croaked.
“Go ahead, “I cheerfully replied. “There’s nothing you can do about it!” It took incredible restraint not to dance around while I said it!
The Realtor soon returned without her jacket. In its place was a lame homemade Palin T-shirt with a Liddy Dole bumper sticker on the back. It was illegible from 20 feet away, which tickled me to no end. I gave her an hour or two tops, before she wimped out and put her jacket on (though she actually toughed it out, to her credit).
Voting created a huge traffic jam in front of the fire station. After a little while I heard the familiar bam! of a car wreck and saw the hood of a small car crumpled. Instinctively I called 911 and was mistakenly handed off to the highway patrol. A friendly firefighter came by to ask if it was called in and explained that this stretch of Ten-Ten is a crazy patchwork of jurisdictions. He radioed in for a Cary Police officer who showed up about 20 minutes later to clear the call.
That wasn’t the only wreck, though. Around 9 AM my head whipped around upon hearing a much louder crash. I didn’t believe what I saw: a Jeep Cherokee was stacked on top of a Ford Mustang convertible which had plowed into it from behind at full speed! I raced to the fire station door and yelled for help before running out to the cars to check on the drivers.
Both of them miraculously were unhurt: the Mustang driver having gotten out of her car before the Cherokee’s rear tire had come through the windshield. The unoccupied Mustang began rolling forward so I ordered the driver to stop the car. With everything secure and the firefighters coming out to the scene, I began to direct traffic around the wreck until a firefighter relieved me.
“The last thing I want is for you to get hurt,” she said, flashing a smile.
An hour later the engines were called out again for Wreck Number Three. My firefighter friend just laughed and shook his head when he returned from that call. I thought of suggesting he just keep the engine running but opted not to.
Overall it was a fun experience. There was a lot of positive feedback about Al’s campaign materials. Few were expressive about their voting, though one woman asked if he was a Republican.
“Well, he’s a retired businesman,” I responded.
“Ok, but is he a Republican?”
“No ma’am,” I said. She handed me back my flyer. I should’ve answered “No ma’am. He solves problems. He doesn’t create them,” but I didn’t think of it in time.
Over 700 people had voted by 11 AM: over 2/3rds of the eligible voters of that precinct. All in all, a fun day for democracy. And I get to do it again for Grier Martin and Josh Stein in a Democratic-friendly neighborhood in the afternoon. What fun!