Most of my fourteen years as an Alaskan I have been registered Independent. Some years back, when the Greens were in danger of losing their status, I wanted to help out, so I joined them. A few hours ago I changed my registration to Democrat, so I could caucus for Barack Obama.
Despite the forty below weather and the warning about ice fog choking visibility down to zero, so did a lot of other Fairbanksans. At 5:30, when we tried to find a parking spot, both sides of the street were lined with cars and every parking lot in the area was packed. Inside, the line to register to caucus filled most of the J.P. Jones Community Center.
By 6:00, there was almost nowhere to stand. The stuffing of our parkas determined the amount of personal space we got. The pens for filling out voter registration forms ran out, so people shared. The cards on which delegates were to write their district and address ran out, so people improvised, using pages from calendars. The organizers said, “Write your name, address, and district on that and be ready to turn it in.”
Most of us couldn’t get close enough to hear the speeches, so eventually, someone in the big room moved that we separate into districts and get started. At least I think that’s what happened, all I could hear from outside was a loud round of “Ayes.”
People kept remarking, “This is crazy,” and replying, “But it’s a good thing.”
We finally moved into different rooms by district. After we counted out, one at a time, 290 of us in District 7, the fire marshal showed up, and told us to move our cars. They explained that there would be no way to even get an ambulance down the street if they needed one. People yelled, “Vote! Vote!” and “Just get it over with!” “Yes we can!” someone added.
Here are some scenes from the mob:
Here’s the ruckus over the fire code violation and the fan out for Obama:
When it was over, we staggered out of the overheated building into the -40 night and the throat-burning ice fog to try to find our cars. Flashing lights from the emergency vehicles met us.
I worry about this country, where we’ve been going. Tonight, in spite of this nasty cold snap, and the breaking news about the poor choices California Democrats seem to be making, I’m actually feeling a little hopeful.
Here’s where the reporting ends and the editorial begins (look away if you need to):
Maybe even hopeful enough to explain myself to Gloria Steinem and other feminists who are disappointed in my choice. A few weeks ago in the New York Times, Steinem wrote about young women who choose Obama over Clinton:
I’m bothered that Steinem, one of the women to whom we owe the opportunities we have today, believes our generation of women is in denial, or worse, is just a bunch of escapists.
I’m a feminist. I have a Women’s Studies minor to prove it. My husband and I both changed our names when we got married. I don’t know what other badge I can flash to prove it, but I don’t believe a “Hillary in ‘08″ is the only one I should be allowed to wear. I do not “hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system” in our country. I see what patriarchy has done to our culture. I’m raising daughters after all. Every day I continue the work of dismantling it that previous generations of feminists began.
Nominating Hillary Clinton as a Democratic candidate for president would bring that work to a screeching halt. Not because she’s a woman, but because she is a catalyst for the extreme right. In my political lifetime, I have watched one group grow even more radical than women over 50 and 60—extreme religious fundamentalists and social conservatives.
Clinton will electrify them. She’ll get out the vote for the Evangelicals just as surely as the bogus “Defense of Marriage Acts” they engineered in the last few elections did. The net result will be a loss of women’s rights in the United States.
For a long time now, the right has been in charge of definitions. Liberal is a dirty word. Feminist is an insult. If Clinton runs, we’ll miss an opportunity to reclaim our language. I don’t want to wait until my daughters can vote to start rebuilding this country. I want to start immediately. That’s why I’m voting for Obama.
Great post! May I add your post to a blog I’m composing for tomorrow? I want to show some reactions about Obama’s politics in contrast to Hillary.
Absolutely amazing the turnout in Alaska. It’s so exhilarating!!
I couldn’t agree with you more!
~Sarah
FYI, looks like the ADN linked to you today: http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/newsreader which immediately goes to http://www.adn.com/224/story/306735.html for today.
Great post, loved the video, and was happy to see an old friend I haven’t seen in years. Anchorage was also much as you describe.
I absolutely agree with you; I’m discouraged by the vote in CA, but still hoping that Obama will pull this one out.
I feel that this is so well said (and not just because I completely agree with you)
So, did we actually, factually get separated at birth? I feel exactly the same way, except I could not bring myself to change my voting designation, so I sat the whole thing out. Me=lame. You=my hero. My scalp is raising its hackles just reading this. I am so happy that Alaskans picked Obama.
Well, I am voting for Clinton, but I don’t think that one of us is more or less feminist because of it. Now, if you told me you were voting for… oh, Huckabee… I’d reach right through the internet and give you a little shake.
I was SO GLAD you were there to record the event and your response. This is what politics should be about, the public square, the community gathering to think together, to speak with several voices all learning to say the same thing, and making sure that we don’t get silenced in so conclusive a way again. That’s why I am excited about Obama, he can speak to that deep longing people have for a “commons” where we can be ourselves, grow our families, write our stories, help our friends and families, but also have our local efforts spin off in grace and blessing, as well as challenging and limiting that which detracts and hurts others. I love that Obama is interested in harnassing the energy of young people in the world, not through supplemental employment in the military, but in Peace Corps and Vista kinds of work, where what you learn doesn’t give you PTSD but a real connection to what’s important in the world, in each country, in every family’s life. Have you listened to the Yes We Can music video on UTube? I get goosebumps and teary and all whenever I listen to it… It’s so EXCITING to be part of this. So, thanks for giving me a glimpse at what it was like over there Tuesday night, as I was hanging out with a newborn of another variety.
Yeah, Subarctic Mama! Yes we can!!!
I totally agree with you on this one. People should vote on the basis of the politics of the candidates not only because they have lady-parts or dark skin. It drives me bonkers when people assume all (Democratic) women MUST vote for Hillary because we’re women. As if all women are identical, with identical lives, problems, priorities. As if Hillary will only care about women’s issues. This sells everyone–candidates and voters–short. I pick Obama for a whole lot of reasons. And yet, shockingly, I am not a black man. That should be more than just okay. That should be EXACTLY what informed politics in this country is all about.
You braved the weather and the crowds, alas, we did not. As it turns out, we didn’t have to as it turned out as I hoped.
Great to witness the event vicariously!!!
Thanks,
Thane
I am a UAF student who should be finishing my magazine story on winter skin care. Somehow when double checking AP style for Alaska, I got sidetracked by your site. Funny how that happens, don’t tell my journalism instructor. FBX is such a small place, you may even know her.
I plan on moving back to Long Beach, CA at the end of the summer. Nevertheless, I beleive my vote makes a difference.
So I braved the freezer to vote for Obama. I changed my voter registeration to Alaska even if it is just for a few months. I took a shuttle with other Obama supporters to ensure his win in AK. I braved the packed, stinky room because yes we can.
When I get back to CA, I have already committed to pounding the pavement for President Obama. I have a friend who is heavily involved in his LA area campaign.