Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Measuring turnout at Starbucks
At 7:10 this morning, the Starbucks on Nassau Street in Princeton is absolutely packed compared to usual. There are no open tables, and the line is ten people long. These are voters fortifying themselves on their way to the precinct. Two Princeton students are talking about their just-finished trip to Virginia, where they have been knocking on doors for Barack Obama. I trust they were assigned to Northern Virginia, because neither of them looked as though they would have made much progress south of the James.
MORE: A colleague emails from his precinct in Yardley, Pennsylvania (an affluent town on the northern edge of suburban Philadelphia) that there are "huge" lines at his polling place, longer than he has ever seen. Les jeux sont faits.
STILL MORE: I voted this morning at the Princeton Township offices on Witherspoon Street at around 8 am, right after dropping my daughter off for school. I would have thought that would have been prime time, but there was no line at all.
11 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Nov 04, 07:24:00 AM:
I was 14th in line this morning when SWC opened around the corner, at 6:30. Everyone around me had already voted, was aware of the free coffee available at Starbucks and wanted to pay for a better cup of joe anyway. What does that say about our coming turn towards socialism, I wonder.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 07:39:00 AM:
I believe well know by 9pm tonight. Interesting you mentioned VA. I am currently stationed in Northern VA.
IMO this state is going blue... and with it the election.
Colonel
By 
smitty1e, at
Tue Nov 04, 08:31:00 AM:
Hope not, Colonel.
I voted last week in NoVA for McCain.
OTOH, if the country goes blue, well, whose fault is it but those like me who were too silent?
Just got to find a way to welcome our new Chicago-style overlords...
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 08:32:00 AM:
I just did something in the voting booth that I've never done before -- I prayed for McCain-Palin.
I know that NJ is going blue, but I have hope for enlightenment in PA and OH. We can lose VA and still win.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 08:43:00 AM:
I'm not religious, but when I saw all the useful idiots happily voting for Obama this morning, many of them my friends and neighbors, I also found myself praying. Odd feeling to have as you walk into the voting booth.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 09:03:00 AM:
Another Northern VA report. Massive turnout. The local fire dept capt was in my office this morning, he said "Never seen anything like it".
One more this morning perhaps of interest for discussion. A local radio station was doing a poll of the people in line waiting to vote. It was about half "Im voting for obama", and half "I dont want to say". Interesting that McCain voters dont feel comfortable speaking out.
By TigerHawk, at
Tue Nov 04, 09:32:00 AM:
Anon 9:03, you have (obviously) hit upon the big question. If even one McCain voter in 15 is unwilling to say who he or she supports for fear of appearing racist or contrary, the results today will be very different than the polls predict.
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 09:47:00 AM:
I think there are a lot of "closet" McCain voters. I'm "out" at work (funny how the terminology fits the bill) and one by one, people have dropped by to talk about the election and how they secretly are for McCain but don't want to talk about it openly for fear of offending friends and neighbors of color. I suspect that there's a lot of this going on out there. People of good will who'd just rather "not say."
By , at
Tue Nov 04, 11:24:00 AM:
I have to echo NT's comment ... where I am, it's just easier to keep your politics a bit more private, rather than debate someone with politics on the other side of center.
I have enough things to rile me without some foamy leftist going off that I'm racist, or too rich, or (fill in the blank).
By Consul-At-Arms, at
Tue Nov 04, 01:08:00 PM:
"Two Princeton students are talking about their just-finished trip to Virginia, where they have been knocking on doors for Barack Obama. I trust they were assigned to Northern Virginia, because neither of them looked as though they would have made much progress south of the James."
Once upon a time, Northern Virginia started north of the Rappahanock, not the James.
By , at
Wed Nov 05, 12:11:00 AM:
Looks like Obama carried Buckingham County.
(South of the James.)
