We have had the elites voting at this polling station including Colin Powell, Sam Donaldson, and today former AG Gonzalez who was wearing a Navy sweatshirt similar to my Navy shirt and cap. I offered him a sample ballot and he winked and said he knew who he was voting for and pointed to his sweatshirt.
This site has seen the largest number of early voters in memory with more than 8,000 voting thru today. Based on my two days there and about 10 hours, I offer the following anecdotal observations:
The vast majority of voters were white and Asian [Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipino, Pakistani, and Indian] with a sprinkling of blacks, hispanics, and arabs.
The elderly made up about 20% of the voters and they appeared to be overwhelmingly for McCain based on the distribution of the ballots and their comments and gestures to me. Many of them expressed their fears of an Obama presidency. One 90 year old even raised the specter of a Hitler-like figure having been raised in Germany and coming to this country in 1948. Some were concerned about increased taxes, especially capital gains since many are living off of their investments. They were mostly white and Asian. I was amazed how determined they were to vote. They were using walkers, canes, wheelchairs, etc. standing in line for up to two hours. I have seen some of the polls giving the senior vote to Obama, but that clearly was not the case here.
The Asians broke down into two camps. The Koreans, Vietnamese, and Filipinos were predominantly for McCain. This is significant because there are large Korean and Vietnamese communities in NoVa totalling around 150,000. I would say they made up about 5% to 10% of the early voters. The Pakistanis and Indians were overwhelmingly for Obama. I think a lot had to do with the perceived Islamic connection of Obama. They were about 2% to 3%.
There were the white professionals including lawyers, teachers, professors, etc. and young college students. This group, more women than men, were mostly pro-Obama. I would estimate they made up about 45% to 50% of the voters. The blue collar types and military and former military were pro-McCain. If someone spoke with a Southern accent, they were for McCain. The white, liberal transplants from the the Northeast and Left coast were for Obama, belligerently so.
The Obama sample ballot distributors were well organized and more numerous than we were. They have a good ground game here and have effectively mobilized their voters. How that translates into overall turnout is another question. Clearly, the Reps are also more energized than they were in 2004. There is no doubt that the Dems will win NoVA, the only question is by how much. If McCain can keep it close, he will take the state.
This is going to be a close election in VA. Rep turnout will be key. Now that the race has become a referendum on Obama, the Rep base has become more energized. To be continued....
Terrific on the ground report. One of your fellow Virginians, however, weighed in with observations about the western part, which he says gets completely ignored in all these samples. He claimed it was overwhelmingly McCain, and just wasn’t being factored in anywhere.
THANKS for the idea. I know I can't wear McCain-Palin gear to the polls, but I've still got my souvenir Navy T-shirt from a commissioning I went to in Norfolk years ago.