(trying to) Vote Early, and Often!

I think I may be able to get through this post without getting snarky. Yes, indeedy, ol' Crusty Mel is actually starting to feel real hope about this election. You see, while I won't believe we've won this one until the proverbial fat lady sings, I'm seeing things that amaze me.

I went to vote Monday, the day Arkansas started early voting, and it took fifteen minutes to even get into the parking lot. Folks were parked all along Barrow Road, off in the lawn of the library, and the wait in line was one and a half to two hours, so I decided to try a different library, as the McMath branch I was at is located in a predominately African-American neighborhood. I thought I might find a shorter line out in the vanilla suburbs, to quote the immortal Mr. George Clinton. Nothing doing. The line was just as long there, so I thought maybe I'd wait a day or two. Wednesday was still long lines -- I've got until the first to early vote, so one day this coming week I'll take a lawn chair and a book, and get this done. But man, I got to tell you people are excited about this election. It's great to see.

Meanwhile, I was driving up Lawson Road yesterday, and for folks who are not familiar with Little Rock, the road I grew up on is as redneck and Bible-thumping as you can imagine. If you'd have told me when I was a teenager I would one day see signs in people's yards encouraging you to vote for a black man, I'd still be laughing in disbelief -- but this has come to pass! And in front of houses of folks who've lived there for years, no less. I'm still pinching myself.

Arkansas hasn't gone blue except for Cousin Big Dog, the Man From Hope, and I have no illusions that it's likely it will this time around. But it sure would be something else if it did, wouldn't it?