Schisms in electorate clear early
Published 9:20 am Tuesday, November 4, 2014
From daybreak on, voters across the nation showcased the schisms in the American electorate.
Construction worker Rebecca Cziryak was out at dawn today in New Jersey. She voted the Republican line and predicted that could mean more job sites in her future.
“Believe it or not, when the Republicans are in full force, I work more,” said Cziryak, who voted at a community college in Gloucester Township, near Camden.
Also in line to vote there: Democrat Mark Madden, who said adding more Republicans to the mix would only add to the gridlock in Washington.
“If the Republicans are put in there, you might as well tell the president, ‘just go home,’” said Madden.
Up the Atlantic seaboard, the divisions were much the same in Manchester, N.H.
There, Sandra Philbrook was hoping a GOP takeover of the Senate would improve the economic outlook.
“You ever see more people losing their jobs? Losing their homes?” she asked. “That’s important. I think we need a change. Hopefully it will be in the right direction.”
Right ahead of her in line, Roger Bleau said he voted to re-elect Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and added that he liked the Democratic president’s efforts to keep millions of U.S. troops from getting mired in foreign hot spots in Iraq and Syria and more.
In closely-watched Louisiana, Republican Juan Parke expressed dismay with the campaign of Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who’s trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in a contest that could tip the balance in the Senate.
Parke, 51, said he crossed party lines to cast his ballot for Democrat Landrieu, saying Cassidy “hasn’t shown me anything. His ads are just shouting at the president.”
Those turning out to vote today aren’t the only ones having their say this election. More than 18.6 million Americans in 32 states voted early — either by mail or at early polling places. And millions more had their say in another way — by sitting this election out.
Even among those who voted, though, there was skepticism about how much the elections would change things.
In Louisville, Ky., voter Keisha Matlock griped about the “constant griping back and forth about who’s right. And, who’s going to do this. And, who’s going to do that in office. Sometimes, they say these things and they never do it when they get in there.”