Final day fever

Today started, well yesterday, and this blog post is brought to you fuelled by copious amounts of coffee. Running on a whopping three hours sleep for the past 48 hours but hey this is election day and it's what I signed up for.
At Obama HQ here in Houston the office is buzzing with volunteers making calls into swing states, reminding them of their polling location. Nevada voters have been plagued with calls and during my stint in the phone bank last night I got some fruity responses. My personal favourite was a guy who when he picked up the phone instantly yelled down the line "I voted already" before slamming down the dog and bone. Good thing I wasn't a member of his family ringing with an urgent bulletin.
Staff have been burning the candle at both ends just like the good old college days. In the wee hours of the morning Sanjay and I were dispatched to various polling stations to distribute out yard signs screaming "Obama/Biden" and "Vote straight Democratic." At one of the polling stations we drove through a thick cloud of fog or at least we thought it was fog. Perhaps the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up on us.
We returned to work on the flyers to be distributed and organise the morning canvasses. Then a minor emergency as we discovered that the www.harrisvotes.com website was down on certain browsers. If you don't know your polling location (which many even approaching the 7pm deadline don't) you need to log on to find out. Is it simply a coincidence that the Republican controlled Tax Assessors office site temporarily downs tools on election day? Conspiracy theorist. Moi?
At 5:30 am I return to my temporary home for a quick shave, shower and coffee in that particular order. Ken and I skip out the door with adrenaline pumping in our veins to hit the polling stations with a team of chirpy volunteers. In the course of some 90 minutes this particularly disparate crew hum and chant "Yes we can" before ascending a bridge overlooking a motorway to wave Obama posters which prompted a hearty response from the motorists travelling at speed below us. Truck drivers seemed particularly keen.
We return to the office just after 10am to get the material together for the morning canvass. I'm dispatched to a heavily African American quarter of the city known as Acres Home to whack on doors and remind potential voters to well you know what. The after affects of Hurricane Ike were still much in evidence and the rampant poverty in some sections were shocking. What was most concerning was a respectable looking home lying next door to something that would look more at home in a favela in Sao Paulo.
Being there certainly took me out of my comfort zone and it served as a reminder just how tough a job the next President is going to face. Turning communities like Acres Home into a places where people want to live instead of being forced there as a force majeure.
As I type a team of lawyers are sitting directly in front of me answering calls from concerned voters. You can be turned away from the polls for the most bizarre of reasons. Voter suppression is a Republican speciality and in states like Texas people are employed specifically to 'purge' voters off the rolls.
Here's an example: On a voter registration form you're asked for your Texas drivers licence number and if you don't have it you give the last four digits of your social security number. Many people put down both just as a precaution but lo and behold the lawyers got several calls from flustered locals who couldn't vote because they had filled in both boxes. They got straight on it.
Pundits questioned whether turnout would match the grand expectations set by the Obama campaign. In Texas there have been reliable reports of sparse turnout in Republican strongholds. Theory goes that the GOP faithful have never been won over by John McCain and convinced that their man isn't going to win prefer to stay at home. Still we wouldn't in our wildest dreams expect Obama to win the lone star state this time round. Expect McCain to triumph by six to nine points.
The polls are about the close and we're gathered around a single flatscreen television to see how the States light up. I've taken refuge in a quiet office in the back to post this live update. Parties are being planned, balloons are currently bopping and there is a huge sense of expectation. Dare I say it there is some over confidence but first we have to win this thing. So let's get back to work.