I'm holding my breath

I cannot concentrate. I've been trying to do work all day, but every 5 minutes I hit the refresh button on my New York Times home page to see if anything has changed with the election. Many of my classmates at SPEA feel the same way. One girl worried that something really important would happen while she was in class from 5 to 6 today and she would miss it. Because I voted absentee in Minnesota, I didn't have the pleasure of waiting in line today. I wish I had. It would have given me something to do. I would have gotten a "I voted" sticker and I could have gotten free Starbucks coffee for doing my patriotic duty (they had a promotional deal). 

I don't really understand why I'm so interested. I'm truly inspired by Barack, but I also don't think McCain is a bad guy. I do worry that he would die in office if elected and we would get Caribou Barbie (my aunts coined term for Ms. Palin) as President. 

I have been thinking a lot about my Mom today. Last election cycle she volunteered relentlessly for the Kerry campaign office in St. Paul. She organized, answered phones, and put her anger towards President Bush to good use. I think she would have loved this election. Seriously, if she could get that excited about John Kerry (I'm sorry Mr. Kerry, but I saw you speak at Macalester and you were not that inspiring) than I can only imagine how happy she would be about Senator Obama. 

She would understand, much more than I, what nominating a minority means in the United States. When I was about 12 and learning about the civil rights movement for the first time I asked her about her experience during that time. This is what she told me: For a while during college or graduate school (I can't remember which) she lived in Memphis, TN. While there, she made friends with a young African American man and, thinking nothing of it, invited him over to her apartment. When he arrived the doorman let him in but minutes later made some lame excuse to knock on her door and make sure that everything was "alright." Being the northerner that she was, it took her a moment to figure out why the doorman was actually at her apartment door. She was very embarrassed and apologized to her visitor profusely. She confided that this, among other reasons, was one of the reasons she didn't stay in Memphis very long. For one thing, she had to move back to Minnesota so she could meet my Dad and have me!

Obviously this is one of the less dramatic racially charged stories from that era, but I still think that it is still shows just how far we've come. 

Anyway, in a few hours we'll know how it turns out and either way I know my Mom will be smiling somewhere because Mr. Bush is on his way out. 

Go Hoosier (but only if Obama wins the state. Keep your fingers crossed)!