Africa Trip: Taking a Small Piece of History With Me

In many venues at home and abroad Barack Obama is heralded as exactly who America needs as its next president. In 8 days we'll know whetherthat dream came true. Nowhere is that dream more vivid than in Kenya, the country from which Obama's father hailed, the country which expects America to elect a minority president before it is able to. (Obama's Kenyan ancestors are from the Luo tribe, which has minority status in that country.)

So when I'm in Kenya on November 11, I am going to dole out these t-shirts and 100 buttons -- the remnants of my 20 months of volunteering for the Obama campaign -- to anyone who wants a little piece of history for themselves. It's probably the closest I'll have come in a long time to feeling like Santa Claus.

Early Voting: T-Shirt Violates Law

I leave town tomorrow for an international trip that will keep me out of the country until November 14. So alongside "buy toothpaste," on my list of things to do today was "vote."

You can vote early in person in Santa Clara County, so right after my son's soccer game, off I went. The County Registrar of Voters is about 15 miles away from where I live, and I felt tears come as I made my way off the highway toward the large government office building. It was 10am on this Saturday morning. And already there was a line.

I asked the security guard to take this picture of me and he gladly obliged. Minutes later a kind but firm official informed me that under California law, campaign materials are prohibited within 100 feet of the voting booth and my t-shirt is considered campaign materials. I
said I'd heard about that but thought it was an Internet hoax. He smiled and said, "Nope, it's California law." So I said, "well it's important to follow California law" and then I scooted off to the bathroom to turn my shirt inside out. I'm not here to argue the finer points of what makes something campaign materials, I'm here to vote.

And vote I did.

It's kindof anti-climactic, at least for me anyway. The person next to me probably got a kick out of the fact that I spent just as much time photographing my marked ballot as I did voting. Corny, I know but I just wanted a record. Something to show my grandkids, "Yes, I voted for the candidate who turned out to be the first black president of the United States."

Obama. I voted for him today. For our future as a nation. For my Dad.

And for me.