Super Tuesday Special - Putting the "Aware" Back in "Delaware"

By now, I'm sure you've all seen the results from yesterday's so-called "Super Duper Tuesday" primaries. For a day that was supposed to decide so much, things sure do seem to be pretty much where they started, at least on the Democratic side. Though the stalemate may be frustrating, yesterday's results satisfied me as soon as I heard the following sentence:

"CNN projects that Senator Barack Obama will win the Delaware primary".

At that moment, tucked in a booth at Bourbon, half-lit and shouting, rolling out of bed for a 5am drive up the northern slice of the Delmarva Peninsula seemed like a bargain price for the results that Wolf Blitzer was now sharing with the rest of the country.

To be fair, I'm not really that delusional. The five of us (myself, roommates Annette and Aaleeya, and ringleaders Gillian and JoJo) probably weren't terribly important pieces of Obama's plan to win Delaware. What we lacked in individual experience or significance, however, was bolstered by sheer numbers; there were many volunteers on the streets of Dover today, and all of the ones that I saw supported the same candidate.

We knocked on doors, mostly, in neighborhoods where kids from Georgetown wouldn't typically be found on Tuesday mornings. Or ever. Though we made our rounds early in the morning, everyone who answered greeted us with behavior that ranged from courtesy (at worst) to enthusiams (at best). Even though it was early, many had already voted.

Later in the day, we stood on the corners of busy intersections and waves the handmade signs we'd been provided back at campaign headquarters. Here, finally were the jeers that we'd been expecting all day. Once, an elderly lady rolled down her window and faked us out with a thumbs-up that turned quickly (and violently) downward as she passed in her car. Later, stopped at a long light, a bearded, ponytailed Harley cast-off and his (runner-up) trophy wife informed me that they were "Hillary people". When I asked if they might reconsider, he deadpanned a "Nope." before pulling away through the intersection.

We left earlier than we could've, after a day of Amish food and civic engagement. Most of us dozed on the way home, rousing as we neared the district in time to hear the radio reports of Obama's projected victory in Georgia. After the results started pouring in, it was off to Bourbon, where we celebrated victories and drowned sorrows in a crowd reminiscent of a March Madness game.

I'm not sure what last night means for the nomination. I do know that, whether getting out the vote in that nation's first state or reeling onto Wisconsin Ave. and shouting "I love Kansas!" after another Obama victory, I really did have the Super-est of Tuesdays.