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Saturday, October 11, 2008 3:00 AM Election offers hope and worry By Matt Shaw | Times Staff Writer "Lipstick on pigs," Sheneka Taylor said Friday morning, rolling her eyes. "They're talking about lipstick on pigs, what does that matter?" Taylor then fixed her gaze straight ahead while Tonya Bunch trimmed her bangs. "They need to talk about what's going on," Taylor said. "We laugh about it, but it's serious," Bunch chimed in. "We all want better things and we need to pull together like family. This election matters." Republicans and Democrats alike have called the 2008 presidential election one of the most important of our time. But it has also been one of the most consuming, expensive, historical and hysterical of all time. And it's coming to an end, or at least the beginning of the end. North Carolinians will begin heading to the polls Thursday as One-Stop precincts open in every county. The Republican candidate has carried North Carolina in seven straight elections, but recent polls have shown Democrat Barack Obama with a slight lead over his U.S. Senate colleague, John McCain. Nationally, the state is seen as a toss-up. To see what Wilsonians are thinking about heading into the election and what they hope will result from it, the Daily Times spent some time at a couple of places in the community Friday checking in with people. Politics and cut Politics is always a hot topic among the men and women visiting the Distinctively Yours salon/barber shop, off Ward Boulevard. "People are so ready to vote, they want to vote twice," Bunch said with a laugh. A stylist for 11 years, Bunch is personally hoping the election results in lower gas prices, better jobs and better places for people to live. She said she wants to live in a country that gives help, not heartache, to families who have lost their homes in natural disasters. "Once we get through this, a lot of things will change for the better," Bunch said. One Bunch customer, University of North Carolina at Pembroke student Shana Williams, will be voting in her first election. "I'm hoping for more money for financial aid and, of course, lower prices for gas. Basically, that's all I'm thinking about," she said with a laugh. Taylor, 21, is excited about the possibility of a black man being elected president. "That would be the most important thing I've ever seen," she said with a grin. "I didn't think this day would come." Should Obama be elected, it would inspire a whole generation of children, not just African-Americans, but anyone of color, she said. "It's got to make people feel more confident, that they can achieve what they want." She believes Obama "will do everything in his power to make the economy better. We need help, more jobs." But her top priority is an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her nephew recently returned from an overseas deployment and has had trouble sleeping because of what he saw and experienced, she said. Christopher Brown, who helps out in the shop, doesn't expect rapid changes, regardless of who is elected. "One man is not going to be able to do that much in four years, not even in eight years," Brown said. "But this election is important. A beginning step is better than nothing at all." He hopes to see either Obama or McCain cut fuel prices and ease the costs for small businesses. "A lot of people are losing their jobs because of the high costs of everything," Brown said. "To me, John McCain is like an old steamship," said barber Antoan Barnes as he worked. "He is trying to bring the past into the future. And we have already had eight years of the Bush cabinet, what has that done for us?" In 1968, Bobby Kennedy predicted a black man running for president within 40 years, Barnes said. "Here we are, 40 years later, we have Obama, not only running but leading." Barnes is not terribly concerned about the economy, believing it will rebound. But he hopes the new president will do something about health care costs. "There are people who can't even afford a $15 co-pay, let alone insurance," Barnes said. "McCain said he'd let people cross state lines to buy coverage -- can you imagine driving 300 miles to buy insurance?" he said, adding with a laugh, "You could be dead by the time you got there." Debate and lunch A few miles away at the Wilson County Senior Center, some lunchers put aside their chicken quesadilla plates to talk about the pending decision. "Whoever is elected will inherit the worst economic situation that any president in recent time has faced," said Ray Geiger, retired treasurer for a local tobacco company. "It's the worst since the Great Depression." "It cannot be fixed overnight," his wife, Gay, added. "Obama would not salute the American flag," a woman interjected from another table. "That's a trivial matter," said Don Kline, a retired economic professor at Atlantic Christian College and later Methodist College. "I want to see Obama salute the flag," the woman again said before heading off to the breakroom. Both the Geigers and Kline believe that the next president could face a year or more of recession. Kline believes that recovery at best won't happen before 2010. "It's not just the president," Kline said. Ray Geiger added, "Yes, the Democratic Congress, they've not been able to do anything." The next president will need to reach across the aisle, they said. Congress showed it could work quickly in a bipartisan fashion to pass the financial bailout package. The campaigns have not touched on the real issues, they said. "They're repeating the same stuff," Gay Geiger said. Some senior citizens are still wary of Obama, even though some of the things they believe about him are not true. Daphne Dixon said, "I don't think he's a Muslim, but he was raised as a Muslim (which is not true)." Dixon is also concerned about anti-white statements made by Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But she's not confident that McCain can turn the nation around. "A person can't do that much. ... I think things are going to get worse and worse," Dixon said. mshaw@wilsontimes.com | 265-7878 ============================================================ Early voting starts Thursday In Wilson, one-stop voters will be able to go to the Board of Elections office, 112 Douglas St. E. starting this Thursday to begin voting. Voting hours will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays though Oct. 31; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 and 25; and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. A second one-stop office opens Monday, Oct. 20, at the Wilson County administrative building on Miller Road. Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday through Oct. 31. There won't be Saturday voting at the Miller Road building. For the first time in a presidential election, counties are allowing same-day registration and voting at one-stop locations. Same-day registration will not be allowed on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 4. |
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Betty said...
Just like all the other LIBERAL news, Obama, Obama, Obama! The WDT is cutting jobs like everyone else, so watchout for yours if he wins.
Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 8:39 PM
Just like all the other LIBERAL news, Obama, Obama, Obama! The WDT is cutting jobs like everyone else, so watchout for yours if he wins.
Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 8:39 PM
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