I signed up a half dozen or so new Republican voters yesterday who expressed a strong desire to vote for Obama. I think they were truthful, given our Obama t-shirts, signs and pins all over the place.
A lot of new voters have no idea what a Republican or a Democrat is (or, how to spell them: On the New Jersey registration application, you have to write in the name of the party you want to join. Hoo boy.), they just want to vote for the man. To tell them what they needed to know, I would say, "Would you like to join a party or be independent? You can vote for whomever you want no matter how you sign up. Barack is a Democrat, but you don't have to be a Democrat to vote for him." As soon as I said, "Barack is a Democrat", they would instantly interrupt, "Democrat."
One white 17-year-old girl dragged her clearly reluctant, white 18-year-old boyfriend over to register. He was totally uninterested in politics one way or another, but was going to vote for Barack for her.
Black kids who will turn 18 soon after the election cursed their luck. One girl cried.
All of the Obama offices in the city of Philadelphia ran out of Obama buttons yesterday.
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