This is a shame that I live in a 'Red State', which again will go for the Republican ticket. I went to the polling place at 6:30 am thinking that I will be done casting my vote in 30 minutes just like as I have done before. However, when we reached at the polling place I saw at least 250 people ahead of me standing in line. It took us (my wife and my college-going daughter) more than two and a half hour to cast the vote. I live in the suburb, which always votes for the Republican ticket. However, this time I saw many African American and Hispanic voters. I never knew that so many minority Americans live in my voting district. Also, there were many young college-going kids standing in the line. My daughter saw a few of her college friends who were expected to vote for Obama.
When it is all said and done, Louisiana will vote for McCain. I am now sitting in front of my TV listening to CNN's Election Center. By 6:00 pm the CNN declared that Vermont (with 3 electoral votes) have gone for Obama (No surprise there!). And Kentucky (11 electoral votes) has gone for McCain. Again, there is no surprise.
All eyes at CNN were on Indiana and Virginia where voting ended. Early return shows that Obama is running very strong in Indiana even though he is traililng by a few thousand votes. Incidentally, these returns are coming from Republican dominated counties. In Florida as of this writing Obama has a lead when only 1% precinct was reported. In Virginia the case is a different one where early returns show more votes for McCain because these returns are coming from rural counties.
All indications are that Obama will do extremely well tonight.
My lamentation is that I live in a Republican state (Red State) and I don't know how long will it take to make this state a Blue one.
By the way, nationally, Obama is getting 51% of the vote and McCain is garnering 48% (with 1% of the total votes reporting). Also, in Florida with only 3% precinct reporting, Obama is ahead with 143,000 more votes. The election night is still young and things are looking good for Obama! Mr. Sitangshu Guha should watch these developments with a wide eye! After tonight, the jokes are going to be on him.
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah
- A researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA*