A Boy and His Blog

Posts Tagged ‘voting’

Owen became interested in the election during the debates.  As I wrote about here, Owen expressed his interest in voting for McCain.  I wasn’t even aware that Owen knew who McCain was, but apparently he had decided to vote for him.

When it came time to vote, James and I were very excited to be a part of this history making vote.  Daddy came home from work early and we grabbed the video camera and I said, “yay, let’s go vote for Obama!  Obama, Obama, Obama!”  And Owen started dancing back and forth saying “McCain, McCain, McCain!”  Ugh.  We said, “this is why three year old’s aren’t allowed to vote.

When we went to the voting booth, James and I filled out our ballots.  Then Daddy and Owen stayed behind because they were signed up with “Video to Vote” and were hoping to get some footage of the voting.  We live right across a parking lot from the voting booths, so I walked home.  That is when they noticed that there was a kids voting booth.  This was a great thing, because Owen had it in his head that he would be voting too.  James told me that after I left he said, “wait, I forgot to vote”.  I am really glad that our district had this set up.  Owen filled out his ballot, which had pictures of each candidate on it, and he clearly chose McCain for president.  Daddy made sure he understood who he was voting for, and Owen agreed that he wanted to vote for McCain.

When they got home, I opened the door and watched them walk up the apartment hallway.  Owen got very excited when he saw me and said, “Mama, I voted for McCain! I voted for McCain!”  I was excited for him that he was so enthusiastic about voting, even if I wished he had chosen the candidate that we were backing.

Later that evening as we were watching the results come in, it appeared that Obama was going to win.  Of course James and I were very happy, but I felt a little bad for Owen.  I’m sure when he voted for McCain, he didn’t realize that one was going to win and one was going to loose.  I asked Owen how he would feel if McCain didn’t win.  He thought for a minute and then he said, “well, I still voted for McCain.”  Daddy said, “that’s right Owen, and that is the most important thing.”  I then showed Owen the map and explained that all the red states were people that voted for McCain too.

The next day, I told Owen that Obama had won, and I showed him Obama on Tv.  Owen said, “no, that’s McCain”.  I thought this was a temporary thing, and soon he would refer to Obama as Obama.  However, he is still calling Obama, “McCain”.  Yesterday, Obama was on Tv getting into an airplane.  Owen said, “look Mama, I saw McCain getting on a airplane!”  I said, “oh yeah, that guy is getting on an airplane.  Do you know that his name is Obama though?”  Owen said, “no, his name is McCain.”  I said, “Why do you call him McCain?”  And he he said, “Because, I voted for McCain.”

I’m not sure how long his self delusion will last.  I think he voted for McCain because he is having a lot of fun being contrary lately.  He is finding his independence.  A lot of kids go through this in a different way when they are around two, but my child is a late bloomer on the social side of life.  In an intellectual way, he seems a bit advanced, which I imagine is why he asserts his independence in unusual  ways.

So, for this most historical election, my child voted for the old white guy, while his parents ushered in a new age, and hopefully four to eight years of a better life for little Owen.

Owen and Daddy, after voting.

Proud little Owen with his “I voted” sticker, and his “Kids Voting USA” sticker on.