Election Day 2012

Tuesday, of course, was Election Day.  In a close race, Superman and Belle ran against Batman and Cinderella at the St. Louis Park KinderCare.  We don't know which dynamic duo won, but we can report that the votes of our dynamic duo cancelled each other out: Clara voted for "Belle" (and Superman), and Joe voted for Batman and Cinderella.

But of course, there were other races going on, too.  Joe was just a handful of months old of course when we last voted for President.  He went with us then, so it seemed only right that he, and now Clara, should accompany us to cast our ballots this year, too.  We arrived very nearly after the polls opened and waited in line for perhaps 20 minutes.  The highlight of that was when Joe asked Ted in a fairly loud voice why Ted was going to vote for the candidate for whom Ted voted--only Joe used the man's name.  Civics lessons in order, clearly.

So the line was not so terribly long, but it was long enough that by the time we got our ballots, Clara was starting to see what trouble she could stir up.  We were playing man-to-man defense, and Julie's man was Clara.  First play by Clara, the old hang-on-the-arm-and-swing-in-a-wide-arc-down-there-on-the-ground trick!  Next up, the old saying-the-opposite-of-what-is-actually-desired trick!  So it was that Julie came to scoop Clara up only to have her wail she wanted to hold hands while grabbing hold of the voting booth and giving it a good shake.  (Don't mind us over here tearing the place up while you try to do your civic duty!)  That's when Julie knelt down and delivered a fast and furiously whispered admonition to Clara who decided to hold Julie's hand long enough for Julie to finish voting and make sure she hadn't voted Batman and Cinderella to lead the nation for the next four years.

On the way out, a friendly St. Louis Parkian offered to take our picture and then hurried off in the rain with a "Great tradition!"  It is, isn't it, Fans?  By the time Election Day arrives it feels like the candidates have been running forever, the air seems thin, and it's all rather exhausting. But then, on the actual day, there's something so inspiring and hopeful about heading off to the polls and waiting in line with your neighbors to cast your vote for the future, especially when it's standing in line next to you, holding your hand.