CHAPEL HILL, NC - Let me say it: it’s great being in a swing state.

A quick list of vignettes from the first day of early voting in North Carolina, October 20 through Election Day:

-I took a middle-aged couple to the polls today with a fellow canvasser. It was after 7 PM, a few minutes before the polls closed. While I was waiting, I talked with one of the Obama volunteers standing outside. He was handing out sample ballots that showed the different judges the Democratic Party supported (judge elections are non-partisan). It turned out the volunteer was an Iraq vet and, when he voted in 2004, his absentee ballot came back to him — returned and uncounted — two weeks later. So he said he’d gone and early voted a couple weeks ago to avoid any problems this time around.

-I went to a free James Taylor concert on campus with a staunchly Republican friend last week. He muttered under his breath when Taylor commented favorably on Obama (it was a “Vote For Change” event and James Taylor is a big supporter). But he also added that “James Taylor can support whoever for president and I’ll still respect the heck out of him.” It was great music and was the perfect hour-and-a-half length of time for a concert.

-While canvassing in Durham today, I got some Spanish practice when we ended up canvassing a series of all-Hispanic-immigrant apartment buildings. Almost no one could legally vote, but we got a variety of perspectives. A few positive shouts of “Obama!” and few anti-Obama messages, including one from a middle aged Latino man who went on a slightly drunken rant (in Spanish, of course) about how he could never vote for a black man and about the black-on-Latino crime in Durham (this African American – Latino tension in Durham is actually the subject of my roommates’ senior thesis).

-I attended an Asian Americans / Indians for Obama event in the house of a friend (who’s head of our campus Young Democrats and who has worked his butt off to get as many students to the polls as possible). He’s enveloped his mom in the effort—she’s been making calls and, last Sunday, hosted a house party. It was a fun gathering—at one point, we all set around discussing the election and the country. The food was excellent as well—I still have a few leftovers in my fridge.

-Coach Dean Smith recently endorsed Obama. In semi-related news, my favorite North Carolina Tar Heel bumper sticker (it’s in the style of the square black and white sticker talking about number 43): W The Coach -There’s been no public sign of John Edwards at his poverty center here at UNC. Elizabeth Edwards did do a healthcare forum in neighboring Carrboro though.

-Monday, October 20th was really my first “wow, it’s election time moment.” It was the first early voting day when students were back on campus. The early-voting location (pictured above at one of its lower points that day) had a line out the door. I braved the first day’s line (which died down until the last day of early voting), just so I could say “yes” to all the volunteers around campus who asked me if I’d voted. That same day, I even had a friend—an independent who I though was going for McCain—call me and say he’d voted Obama.

-I ran by Obama’s Chapel Hill office around 11:30 PM on the Tuesday a week before the election. There was still a light on. It says it all about the organizing enthusiasm and expertise on Obama’s side this election.

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