First, a confession: I did not cast a ballot in the most recent election. I tried very hard to vote. I spent many hours in the attempt. I submitted my voter registration paperwork by mail and the internet more than four times. I submitted paperwork to vote as a permanent absentee, twice. I even filled out an online form to get my ballot sent to my parents house while paying for the internet by the minute in Cambodia. No ballot ever made it to my parents' home in the Bay Area. In fact, checking on lavote.net, I was never successfully registered. I started this process months ago - still no joy.
Despite being unable to participate, I was eager to follow the election. Gabriel and I retired to our separate hotel rooms to watch Recount to get in the mood for the following day's election coverage. The next morning we met at 8am to watch the East Coast polls close. We went to a restaurant friendly to foreigners, asked if we could turn on their TV, and then watched outsider's coverage of the election by the BBC. CNN was not available.
After a couple hours of watching, we were joined by a Canadian. Then two American guys, one of them a former UCSC student. As news of Obama's victory got out, the crowd at the restaurant grew. Based on a very unscientific sampling - it seems that folks from around the world are happy to see Obama as president.
The highlight of Obama's speech - his girls are getting a puppy. If I had known this during the primary the Clinton v Obama debate would have been much easier for me to sort out.
Then I went to an internet cafe to check the status of California's propositions...
Proposition 8 passed. Ouch. Next I found a map at latimes.com that broke down the vote by county. San Francisco voted No on Prop 8 in an overwhelming manner. No surprise. But Los Angeles County passed it, and not by a slim margin. I can almost understand it in the mostly agrarian Central Valley where not everyone knows and interacts with openly gay people on a regular basis, But LA? Seriously - in a land of entertainment populated by actors, costumers, makeup artists, and hair stylists Prop 8 managed to pass. Gays allow this town to run, it's not about marriage folks, it's about equal rights.
Two steps forward and one step back.
1 comment:
I'm sorry you didn't get to vote, but I seriously commend your efforts.
It must have been a really interesting experience to watch it all happen all the way across the world. It had to have been a nice feeling to be actually proud of something America did instead of being embarrased.
And as for prob 8, what the hell LA? I expected this from the OC and from San Diego, but LA, really?
Post a Comment