Yay North Carolina with your badass primary today. Go on wit’ ya bad self.
Zoe and Lucy and I went to vote before school this morning, and they enthusiastically helped me push the touch-screen buttons on my electronic ballot. I would say “touch the box next to Person ABC” and they would do it, clearly delighting in their power. I saved the president choice for last, just to savor it a little — the first presidential primary in my long NC history to actually matter, and matter a lot, at that. Plus, although I knew who I was going to vote for, I was still struggling, even at that 11th hour, with the conflict that comes from wishing things were different from what they actually were. I was excited about my choice, but I was still wishing that I was equally excited about the other candidate.
Finally I asked Zoe to touch the square next to Obama’s name. She did it, but she turned to me and said, loudly, “Mama, why are you voting for Barack Obama? Why aren’t you voting for Hillary Clinton?”
Quietly, I explained that I had decided to vote for Obama and that I would explain why after we left. As if I needed reminding that I had only just jumped down off the fence.
“But Mama,” Lucy chimed in, same volume as Zoe. “We want to vote for Hillary. Can’t we vote for Hillary and Obama?”
People turned toward us and smiled the smile. You know the one — the smile that says “I envy the innocence and outspokenness and conviction of a five-year-old.” Or maybe it says “Your kids are voicing the inner turmoil I feel too.”
Oh, or probably it was just because they could imagine how I felt standing there in the middle of Midwood Baptist Church while my private ballot was read aloud for all the world to hear.
Cute kids.
xo, L
Lucy & Zoe For Prez 2038!
Way to go NC, my second favorite state in the union! It must be great fun to actually have your vote counted (:
Lindsay – Actually, in the car going to school after voting, I was explaining why I chose Obama. Lucy said, “but Hillary would be the first girl president ever.” And I explained that, while that’s true, Obama was an exciting choice too since he would be the first brown-skinned president. And if Hillary wasn’t president, maybe she or Zoe could grow up and be the first girl president.
“No mama. We don’t want to be president,” said Lucy, speaking for the LucyZoe Consortium. “We want to be ballet instructors.”
Susie – NC loves you too, sweet cheeks!
My daughter, all of 6 year-old, is for Hillary. Because we have never had a girl president. And a large portion of me likes that kind of logic.
How timely! I just got back from mentoring my mento, a brown-skinned lass of 10 who has FINALLY learned to call her candidate of choice “OBAMA” and not “OSAMA BARAMA.” So I bought her a bumper sticker for her notebook.
Except now she wants Hillary.
She was all for the brown president until she found out there was a girl option! I told her the Texas primary was over, but she looks forward to voting in 2016!
Ah, they must have been channeling PunditGirl.
http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/05/how-to-explain.html
WOW! You used an ELECTRONIC voting machine?! And got to push buttons? (Or well, your kids got to push buttons, but STILL. BUTTONS!). I’m currently living in the UK and I highly believe that if we had electroning voting machines the turnout would be much higher because seriously, who can’t avoid pushing a button?
We voted a week or so ago for the new mayor of London. It was paper voting, in a small hatch box. It was boring. And deep down I wanted to place a check mark in the box rather than an x. Can you imagine the turmoil?
Ok, I am typically a lurker, but I had to come out for this one- as I’ve thought of before. I have a lucy, too. But before she was named we struggled between the names zoe and lucy. But I might have said this before.
There is a brand new book out- and I just wrote about it this week. It’s about politics and it’s for kids. I’m doing a giveaway. It’s called “see how they run” by Susan Goodman.
Here’s the link if you want to come enter:
http://gnmparents.com/politics-and-kids-and-a-great-giveaway/
I could still vote for Hillary when Wisconsin had their primary. My daughter and I have talked for months about how hard this choice is. She’s 21; it’s her first presidential election.