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Friday, March 29 2024 @ 02:29 AM CDT

Optimism abounds for Democrats in Arizona

General News

Barack Obama could fare well in town where John McCain made his last pitch for the presidency

Dan Glaister
"We've had 50% early voting in this precinct," said the poll worker as he surveyed the near empty car park outside the polling station at Prescott's United Methodist church shortly after 7am on election day. "In previous years we've had barely any."

At several polling stations in this city of 40,000, where John McCain had made his last stand just hours before, voters were conspicuous by their absence. There were no lines, no rival groups of supporters, just poll workers peeping out of the closed doors of polling stations or watching over the trickle of morning voters.

And the voters who did go out to vote were far from typical for what is supposed to be a Republican stronghold.

"This time around I saw a need for change and for hope," said Robert Espitia, sounding a little like a campaign commercial. "In the previous two elections I didn't vote, and I was undecided this year at the beginning. Honest to God, I hope they finally do something about healthcare and education."

Despite the paltry morning turnout, election officials in Yavapai County predicted a 90-95% turnout. From an electorate of 118,000, 48,000 early ballots had been received by Monday afternoon.

One early voter, Kenneth Ernst, checked in at his local polling station just to make sure everything was O.K. "I heard there were going to be long lines," he said.

In common with several voters, he said he had been put off by the tone of the campaign. "There was a lot of bashing, and I don't like that kind of stuff," he said.

Susan Smith, voting in the city's historic district, said that she was motivated to vote by a desire to see America engage with the rest of the world in a constructive way. "Why can't we try to get along with other countries," she asked. "Let's talk to them, find out what's wrong rather than imposing our opinions on them."

In Prescott's picturesque town plaza, where McCain had made his last pitch in the early hours of the morning before several thousand supporters – and several hundred opponents – workers were clearing away the barricades and the litter, returning the square to its previous state.

Would Arizona return to its previous state and turn Democratic? "Historically this was a Democratic state," said Smith. "But with the retirement communities and the snowbirds it sort of changed."

It will be a long shot, but with some recent polls showing McCain holding just a two-point advantage in his home state, it may not be impossible. Certainly, the mood in the Republican redoubt of Prescott suggested uncertainty among the city's Republicans and optimism among its Democrats.

guardian.co.uk


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