Politics

Politics

There are 1,051 posts filed in Politics (this is page 89 of 106).

NBC 17 Interview

I was crossing Fayetteville Street in front of a cameraman for NBC 17. I had seen him out and was trying to avoid him when I heard “hey, can I ask you a few questions?”

Bah. Got caught.

He then asked me four or five questions about the presidential election. I answered that the election shows the world that America is ready again to play well with others. I also said Obama’s got a tough challenge with the economy in tatters but he’s a smart man and will build a good team.

Talk about pressure, though: its a huge challenge to answer five questions coherently on camera with zero time to prepare. At least politicians giving news conferences have some control over the agenda, but I had no clue what I would be asked. I worked hard at keeping my bobblehead tendencies in check so hopefully I might look good even if I don’t sound good.

No telling when the segment will run but I’ll record tonight’s newscast just in case.

Update 6 Nov: They didn’t use my interview. Something about my forehead being too shiny or something. Good thing I have my blog stardom to sustain me.

Still celebrating

On the way in to work I heard a car horn and turned to see a jubliant African-American woman spontaneously shouting “Obama! Obama!” through her open windows. I couldn’t help but laugh.

What an amazing night.

Post-election poll-worker props

No matter which candidates you supported in yesterday’s elections, I think you’ll agree that the Wake County Board of Elections did an outstanding job managing the election. Early voting was super-easy and wildly successful, voting machines worked well, ballots were easy to understand and counted fairly, and poll workers knew their jobs and performed those jobs efficiently. Rarely did I see anyone waiting more than 5 to 10 minutes at the polling places I visited. Even the Board of Election’s post-election results webpages, farmed out to SOE Software, easily handled the load.

Managing a presidential election is a mammoth project but from what I can see Wake County pulled it off flawlessly. Kudos to all the poll workers who put in long hours to make voting so effortless!

Yes we did

Its been a long day, but it had a happy ending (except for my friend Al Swanstrom, who sadly lost in a squeaker). I’m beat and the blogging will have to wait but tomorrow will sure feel like a new day in more ways than one.

One poll greeting done, one to go

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.
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Crunch time

Vote!
I’ve taken tomorrow off to campaign for a few good candidates. I’ll be in Apex tomorrow working as a poll greeter for Al Swanstrom (NC House). Then in the afternoon I’ll be in Raleigh’s Five Points campaigning for Josh Stein (NC Senate) and Grier Martin (NC House). I hope to wrap up the day celebrating victory but I won’t know that until the evening.

Believe it or not, I’ll be so happy all this is over, even if its just a little while. Its high time to get on with other things!

Brainiac student supports McCain

The N&O talked to some campaign supporters for a story in Sunday’s paper. I found this one totally laughable:

[Christine DiPietro, the 21-year-old head of the N.C. State student group Students for McCain,] said that after sitting in class next to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan wars, she considered which candidate would make the best commander in chief.

“I feel John McCain is the best man for that job,” she said.

Amazing. Sitting next to actual veterans has given DiPietro special insight into the mind of veterans. It must work like osmosis or something. Hey, I sat next to a brain surgeon on a plane once. Now I can perform brain surgery!

Maybe DiPietro should venture outside of class every once in a while. Then maybe she’d find out that our troops support Obama over McCain by a six-to-one margin in donations. And if that’s not enough insight into the military life for her, maybe DiPietro could take a four-year hiatus from class and sign up herself. No osmosis needed!

She can support McCain all she wants but she should find a reason other than that’s what she thinks veterans want.