Mailbag: Big Turnout In Rural Missouri

David in Downing, Missouri:

I am 51 years old and mixed race, (Native American & Caucasian), and this is the first time I have ever donated to a political campaign. It is also my first time putting a yard sign out. I am a Barack Obama supporter and there is a big sign in my yard for all to see. Although numerous such signs have disappeared in this area, I've been lucky in that I have managed to retain mine. Of course it could have something to do with the fact that I have motion detectors covering my yard which turn on floodlights and take pictures of trespassers and then email them to me. This fact is well known to all of the folks in my tiny little town. I am also a gun owner and sportsman, but I have had to turn away from the nonsense the NRA is spewing. I know that Senator Obama does not want to take my guns!

I live in a small rural town in Northeast Missouri, (Schuyler County), where no black or hispanic people reside, which is dominated by agriculture as well as other types of farming. Although the area is considered to be overwhelmingly Democratic, I routinely hear racially tainted remarks and tasteless comments about Senator Obama.

I thought that I was the only one in the area supporting Barack. Until the recent financial meltdown. I then started to see more and more Obama/Biden signs going up. Then I started seeing them disappear. Silly rednecks! We know where we got them and we can get more!

Back to the point; When I said that I live in a small town, I didn't mean a small town of a few thousand. This is a small town of about 300. We have no paved streets or even a city police officer. We vote at city hall and I was shocked to see a line when I arrived shortly after 6:00 A.M. to vote! This is unheard of!

During most elections, we have to wake up the officials in order for them to hand us our ballots. (That's a joke of course.) This is the first time I've ever had to wait in line though!

As for how it went, everything came off without any problems although I did note that they could not get their one voting machine to work. That's right, one machine. It's been there for the last couple of elections and we can use it if we choose. That is if it's working, which it usually is not! Most of the people I know still prefer the good old paper ballot with permanent ink. We don't take to having our votes changed, especially by a machine we don't trust that rarely works anyway.

I have been emailing and calling for Barack for months now and I have spent so much time doing research and digging up facts that nobody who knows me will dare to try any smear tactics around me. Because they know that I have all the facts ready to debunk them. I'm sure they still spread this filth when I'm not around but I have been glad to see that several people have looked me up, called me or emailed me with all the questionable things being past around in order to find out the truth. I hope I've done my part, I wish I could do more but I'm disabled and therefore limited.

I was deeply saddened to learn of "Toot" passing and my heart goes out to "Black Eagle" and his family in their time of sorrow. How tragic for her not to get to see the end result of all her hard work and sacrifice.

In a few hours we will all know if we were able to turn this bellwether state blue this time. I can hardly wait. Good luck to all and don't slack off now.

Comments

[Liberoservative]

GO MO for Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am Active Duty Navy but I vote in Greene county... the rubiest of them all.......
and I proudly sent my absentee ballot in for Barack Obama and Joe Biden... and Jay Nixon a month ago...

Here is a toast to Greene county going Blue this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EducatedVoterMO]

Webster Groves voter here (suburb of Saint Louis). I voted absentee last week, checked out the line this a.m. at Edgar Road School, didn't look too bad.

The Obama rally last month at the Arch (100,000 people!) was amazing, and if you were there, you had to feel like there is NO WAY that Missouri could not be blue.

I promised myself I would NOT sit in front of the computer all day, anxiously reading everything I could find. But I'm still here :o)

[7thCylon]

I am in Springfield,MO home of the "ruby-red" voter. The one thing I have noticed is that the republican voters here seem "defeated" and have for some time now. Usually they are first in line to vote and spend the rest of the day proudly sporting thier "I Voted" stickers. Not today though. My very right -winged neighbors are still home, choosing to accept defeat rather than vote for someone they know will loose. It reminds me of how many of the democratic voters acted 4 years ago when we knew Kerry had no chance of winning Missouri . It makes voting a chore when you know you will be voting for the loser. No one wants to be on the losing side , it's the reason I stopped watching Chiefs games. I really think it all started with Clare McCaskill, she defeated Jim Talent by a very slim margin, but has since done such a fantastic job that it has made me proud to have voted for here. If MO goes BO, it will be in large part due to her. What impressed me most was the way she threw her support behind Obama before it was the "in" thing. She did not take the easier Hillary route because she saw in Obama what we all see in him now, compassion and intellect. Truly he is the whole package (am I right ladies?), and Claire was intuitive enough to see it from the start.

[Liberoservative]

Claire is awesome!!!!!!!! You are absolutely right...

She is the fresh breath that spells out what the New Democrats are all about....

We have truly evolved.... in fact, we are kind of like the Old Republicans of Lincoln and Eisenhower....

The Republicans have devolved into mouth breathers and divisionists... it is sad to see...

I hope that they have at least forty years of wandering in the desert of their own destruction....

[tegrat]

You're an inspiration. Keep up the great work!

[kid5rivers2]

Go góshdiyé dlö' binant'a' silîî lÃ"k'eh.

[Ninety-nine degrees]

Well, it's a light turnout here in rural Arizona. I live in Cochise County, in the southeast corner of the state. I vote in the little town of Cochise. I got there around 10:30am, no line, and the polling officials outnumbered voters. It's a heavily Republican area - I noticed when I signed the registration book that my name was the only one on the page that didn't have "REP" next to my name. Actually, it was the first time I noticed the "PND" next to my name, so I asked what it meant. It took the 3rd or 4th polling official to know it means "Party Not Declared" - Arizona's way of designating Independents. Anyway, there are probably 1,000 residents in our precinct, heavily retired folks, so there's hardly a groundswell of enthusiasm for Arizona's "native son".

For me, it was my 10th time voting in a Presidential election - and only the 3rd time voting for the candidate with "Democrat" next to his name. Carter in '76 was the first time, Kerry & Obama the 2nd and 3rd time. Obama in 2012 will be the next time.

[McFlipFlop]

Way to go Arizona! I have hope you might take the state blue!

[greenpea]

There has been great effort in West County of St. Louis to get out and VOTE. It will be very close but we are so hopeful that Obama will prevail. I was up early and there were many people on the streets walking to their poll places. After voting the lines at Starbucks (free coffee) were as long as the lines at the polling places. Let's hope Missouri goes BLUE.

[kburlz]

I mean the L-Z line

[kburlz]

South City St. Louis here. I went at 10:45 and it was about an half hour-45 minute wait. The place was buzzing though, and it's about 5-1 Obama signs here. I was in the L-M line which was 5 times longer than the A-K line. They need to fix that, there's a lot more L-Ms.

[amyinkansas]

I grew up in Missouri. Just went there this past weekend. It's going Obama.

Between the two cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, and the two major college towns, Columbia and Springfield, and the fact that there are just enough Obama supporters sprinkled throughout the rural areas, it's enough to put him over the top.

Mark my words, everyone thinks I'm crazy, but MO is going for BO.

[Deni]

I live in a very small town (about 200) in Lake County, Oregon. This county is overwhelmingly red. This is an agricultural area, and most everyone listens to Fox Noise and Rush. In other words, they don't let facts get in the way of their beliefs. Sigh. But we do have a few Obama supporters. Oregon is "vote by mail" or you can drop your ballot off on election day. The ballots were mailed to us a few weeks ago. I had mine filled out last week and dropped it off into the locked election box this morning. I'll be on pins and needles all day waiting to see that Obama has turned this country blue!

[brazzoid]

David - I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and I was moved reading your story - it is the most important choice of all our lives. As long as the likes of you are contributing, I feel good about our chances. May the USA become the country of freedom, social responsibility, and integrity that I learned about as a young kid. May the black eagle fly!

[HappyAtheist]

Stand strong, fellow Missourians! We can do it :) I'm in Lee's Summit and the lines weren't too bad. I had about an hour wait, as did my husband. My brother did, as well, and he is in KC. We have paper and ink ballots, so no issues with voting machines here. I did see that there was a mix-up in the city with voter registration books. Hopefully that will be cleared up soon.

OBAMA-BIDEN 08

[rebeccams10]

I voted before 7am in Ward 6 in St Louis, MO (city). I planned for a long wait but it went fast and I was pleased to see a mix of young and old, black and white showing real excitement to cast their votes. As it turned out, I had canvassed the neighborhood where the polling place is located (low income and government subsidized housing) on Sunday and knocked doors. This is a pro-Obama area so we were just reminding folks to vote. We came across one woman in her 80s who couldn't get across the street to vote without a wheelchair. I told the Obama campaign but was worried that her name would get lost in the chaos of election day. I was thrilled to find out that this lovely woman was able to cast her vote this morning because some concerned citizens (Obama supporters!)had lined up a wheelchair for her to use. Knowing that she had cast her vote made my entire day! In the end, I think we'll find that the majority of Missourians are more progressive than we think.

[Smirk]

Beautiful story! Thanks for telling it. :)

[quiver366]

I live in a small town in Missouri also ( Moscow Mills) and my experience is similar. there hasn't been any sign stealing.... and most people here i assumed would vote Republican are are choosing to vote Democrat. This is a older farm community that has seen sudden change in progress and demographics. I was passing through a very wealthy suburb near St. Louis ( Frontenac) and was VERY surprised to see Obama signs the front lawns of $500,000-$1,000,000 dollar homes. I know it's close but I hope we can show the country the Missouri IS ready for change