Alyssa Caplan
AC360° Staffer

If this week has taught me anything, it’s that it should become mandatory that elections fall on Thursdays. That way, historically questionable days like Monday through Wednesday would be more palpable as the excitement builds toward the day when the fate of our nation finally gets revealed.

Then, with only one more work day to get through after an emotionally and physically draining week/two years, the media and country could throw on their favorite track suits and gather for the world’s biggest virtual post-mortem “brunch” before waving goodbye for a quiet weekend of reflective and restorative processing time.

But mostly, the fact that the day after the election would then fall on a Friday would help promote bi-partisan healing because if your candidate wasn’t chosen, you could say comforting things to yourself like, “Well, the country may officially just bought itself a one way ticket to hell in a hand bag, but at least its Friday!!” And if the candidate you were pulling for was chosen, you could tap in to the energy of everyone’s favorite day of the week and ride an even bigger wave of excitement, hope and wonder in to the blissful weekend sunset.

Instead, this has seemingly been the longest week in the history of the world.

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Cate Vojdik
AC360° Writer

I live about 20 blocks from CNN’s New York offices and usually walk to work. Today, as I followed my familiar route, there were subtle yet definite reminders of the history made last night.

Two blocks from my apartment building a chalkboard sign outside a local bar caught my eye. It read: “Yes, we did.” I snapped a quick picture on my blackberry. Continuing on, I made a detour to the CVS on the corner to pick up a prescription; a young African American man wearing a “Vote Obama” t-shirt was smiling as he chatted with an employee in the pharmacy department. Several blocks beyond CVS, I noticed a cluster of red, white and blue balloons nestled in the branches of a tree on a side street. Just hours earlier in my neighborhood (Hell’s Kitchen, west of Times Square) spontaneous celebrations had erupted in the street when CNN called the election for Barack Obama; I had watched from my 20th floor balcony.

Now, about 12 hours later, the streets were relatively quiet, aside from the typical traffic. But the balloons were a reminder that Election Day 2008 in New York City was unlike any I’d witnessed.

Several blocks later, as I neared the Time Warner Center, I passed another sign outside a restaurant, advertising a “Bailout Recession Special for $10, tax included.” The meal included a burger or cheeseburger, a bag of chips, and a soda or Snapple. What I really loved was the tag line: “You’ve already spent $750 billion. What’s ten more?” I snapped another picture. If the exit polling we’ve seen is right, that burger special encapsulates why so many Americans had such an appetite for voting yesterday.

Gabe Falcon
AC360° Writer

I had an interesting voting experience.

First, the back story: my wife and I moved from one part of the Upper West Side in New York to another part of the Upper West Side. Considering we’ve never left the neighborhood, this was a big bold step.

At the time of our relocation, my wife, Jenny, filled out a new voter registration form that noted the address change. I did not. She mocked me and said I would have to walk 10 blocks to vote while she just had to saunter over to the Public School 8 across our street and cast her ballot.

This morning, Jenny grabbed a coat and a cup of coffee and headed over to the school. My daughter and I strolled quietly behind her. Inside the polling center, a volunteer informed Jenny that her name was not on their manifest. Jenny asked the worker to check again. He did. The same result. Maybe you’re still registered at the old address?
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83rd BETWEEN 1st AND 2nd, NEW YORK CITY

Editor’s Note: We knew voters would turn out in full force, but even we were surprised at what we saw. AC360°  staff share their voting stories.

Penny Manis
AC360° Senior Producer

Precinct 111 on 53rd and 9th told me I was in wrong place after looking at my paperwork, and sent me to another site a block away. When I got to second location, they also told me I was in wrong place and sent me back to where I started to begin with! I guess the guy at the original location misread the number of my district. Thankfully the line was very short and I was in and out in 10 minutes when I was finally at the right place. Had it not been for the original confusion and circling of my block trying to vote, it would’ve been a totally pleasant and quick experience. After some initial irritation, in the end I guess it was all good. I was happy to vote as it was an inspiring experience, and what the heck some brisk morning exercise isn’t terrible, right?
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Matt Minton
AC360° Staff

My friendly neighborhood Warren T. Jackson Elementary polling place in Fulton County, GA had coffee service and fresh bakery goods served by the school kids and local girl scouts. All in all, the total process; waiting in line, eating a muffin, downing my 1st cappuccino of the day, and pulling the lever took under an hour…not bad!

More pictures from Warren T. Jackson Elementary

Alyssa Caplan
AC360 Staffer

For many of us 360 staffers, today was supposed to be a much coveted “Summer Friday.” With no live show to produce, our usual late night schedules were replaced with the promise of champagne wishes and caviar dreams — a rare chance to get out of work while the sun still shines, meet friends on a roof deck, beat traffic out of town, or in my case, complete a blog post on which I had been working, but hadn’t had a chance to finish. Then I planned to re-unite with my all but estranged “normal working hour” friends and tend to my vitamin D deficiency.

So I settled at my desk to tackle the post I had conceived about infidelity - inspired by some comments former major league baseball player José Canseco told the TV show “Extra” several weeks ago when the whole A-Rod/Madonna situation was playing out in the media.

Little did I know how timely the topic would be, or how crazy this day would become. Instead of finishing the post, I ended up spending the next two hours booking guests like crazy as the news broke that Sen. Edwards admitted that he did indeed have an affair. So much for an early night! Keep reading

Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis after it collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007

Alyssa Caplan
AC360° Staff

Earlier this week when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California, cameras at a “Judge Judy” taping captured a rare glimpse of the moments during the quake. You can see the panic as a once stable room starts to rock and roll.

Thankfully there were no fatalities or serious injuries - but as I watched the video, it was the first time I could really imagine how unnerving it would be to be in an earthquake. Despite what is going on in the world, there is a certain comfort that can found in standing on solid ground.

With the one year anniversary of the Minneapolis bridge collapse approaching, my thoughts quickly turned to another group of people whose world actually crumbled beneath them. Over the past year, I have thought of them often.

On Aug. 1, 2007, I sat at my desk at CNN’s New York offices and watched terrified, unable to get through to family members or friends in my hometown of Minneapolis as the story unfolded and images of the mangled bridge began to appear on television.

The next day, I was in Minneapolis helping find guests and stories for the show. One of my most memorable moments was with a guest who had been driving the day before when her car plunged off the bridge into the Mississippi. We were standing together at dusk on the roof of a building near the collapse where our live shot was set up. She somehow managed to survive the fall and escape from her submerged vehicle that was pinned under water between concrete slabs and debris.

She bravely agreed to take the crazy freight elevator (hard hat not optional) to the top of the building, which quite frankly, jilted me. Peering down in the distance with her at the wreckage, I simply could not believe she was standing next to me - standing, at times smiling, and making jokes. She talked about being underwater and thinking that she had to get out because she had fun plans for the weekend and this just couldn’t be the end. It is amazing to be reminded what resilient creatures we are; what the human spirit can endure.

Kim Dahl, who was driving a school bus filled of children and Lindsay Petterson were also on the bridge. They are part of an active online community, sharing their thoughts and journey of the last year. Their stories can be found here:

KIM DAHL
LINDSAY PETTERSON

Editor’s Note: Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe is one of the United States’ preeminent constitutional scholars. An informal advisor to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, he is one of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s most ardent supporters. The liberal legal icon talks with AC360’s Jack Gray about the impact the next president will have on The Supreme Court, the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned and why Barack Obama is the most amazing student he ever taught.

Q. The economy, two wars, an energy crisis … are legal and judicial issues as important in this election?
A. I think they’re enormously important because they set the framework within which everything else is addressed. If we believe in democracy and the rule of law then an administration that is casual or reckless about the framework of the constitution simply can’t be trusted with either war or peace. So I think that although bread and butter issues of gas prices and home foreclosures are going to dominate individual consciousness, at some level people have to remember that it is our legal system and our political structure that defines our greatness as a nation and that projects our presence onto the world stage and indirectly accounts for our safety and security. If we don’t stand for a fundamental set of legal values abroad we will have an impossible time in the battle of ideas that constitutes the war on terrorism. Keep reading

Kay Jones
AC360 Editorial Producer

Music festivals are always an interesting mix of people, sounds, and food. This past weekend at Camp Bisco in Mariaville, New York, was no different.

With artists like The Disco Biscuits, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Bassnectar and Snoop Dogg taking the main stage, there was ample opportunity to dance and mingle with new friends while soaking up the hot sun. But just off the main stage, was an opportunity to do something that will last long past the three days of nonstop music: Voter Registration.

Many concerts and music festivals have voter registration tents. But at Camp Bisco the organizers of HeadCount made the most of their opportunity, making their tent the first you pass while leaving the main stage area. HeadCount says it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that was created in 2004 by a group of artists, music professionals and fans who wanted the music scene represented at the polls. They have traveled around to various concerts and festivals over the past four years and are seeing record numbers this year.

While Camp Bisco isn’t the biggest festival they’ve been at, HeadCount co-chair Andy Bernstein told me that percentage wise, this was the most successful mid-size festival this year with 366 of the roughly 7500 in attendance registering. The music fans at this particular festival were mostly fans of the event organizers, The Disco Biscuits, Keep reading

Susan Chun
AC360 Producer

Debate over the N-word has intensified in the past couple years.

Remember when Michael Richards from “Seinfeld” was caught on tape two years ago using the n-word in a comedy routine? People were outraged and Richards had to apologize.

The NAACP last year held a symbolic funeral to bury the N-word. And the Rev. Jesse Jackson has called on rappers and entertainers to stop using it in their performances.
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