Irma Ramirez, 49, cast her ballot for Barack Obama at Orange City Hall today.
But she didn’t know who she’d be voting for until the moment she stepped into the booth.
“I was still reading my book and deciding,” she said, clutching her Voter Information Guide.
What really persuaded her though were not the policies she was reading about. In the end, it was Obama’s approachability.
As volunteers took down voting signs in the last five minutes before the polls closed at West Orange Elementary School, 22-year-old Michelle Rosabal rounded the corner.
She was home sick for the majority of the day, but she drove from Anaheim in the final minutes to cast her vote for Barack Obama. She said she couldn’t miss out on the historic moment.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to vote for a black man in this country,” Rosabal said.
Student Alex Jackman voted earlier this evening at the Orange Villa Bible Church for Sen. Barack Obama.
Jackman, 21, is registered as a “decline to state” voter, but saw the Democrat candidate as a different authority needed for office.
“I feel like he has better leadership and a more informed world view,” Jackman said after voting at the church polling place, 1820 E. Meats Ave. “I hope he first fixes the economic crisis, but just to empower others to make changes happens a great quality.
“”I feel like politics is very focused on itself, and he seems more focused on the individual people who can change things.”
– Kelly Egan
Rick Rayun, a registered Republican working in sales, voted for John McCain at the Orange Villa Bible Church, 1820 E. Meats Ave., this afternoon, though he did so reluctantly
“We have so much hunger, so much debt,” Rayun said, “but we can spend millions of dollars on these campaigns, not saying it’s not worth it, but we could probably have put those millions of dollars to better use.”
– Kelly Egan
Honesty, integrity and experience. Those are the qualities that 41 year-old Michael Ring values in John McCain, his choice for president.
As a war veteran himself, Ring believes that it takes someone with military experience to understand how to effectively withdraw troops from the Middle East.
“Obama wants to just pull out blindly,” Ring said after voting at Orange High School, 525 N. Shaffer St. “He hasn’t really set up a plan, he lacks experience.”
Jessica Barella, with children Dalilah and Damien
Prior to today, 27-year-old Jessica Barella was 80 percent sure she would vote for Barack Obama, but the apparent need for change in America made the Illinois senator her final choice tonight.
“I am hoping that Obama will provide something better for my kids and for their kids in the future,” she said after voting at West Orange Elementary School
Part of the reason for her indecision before today was that she was worried Obama would stage a total pullout of the troops in Iraq.
“I don’t want a void to be left Iraq or we could be open to attacks,” Barella said. “We need change, but we need to keep our families and everyone else here safe.”
Robert Thorton, a private investigator from North Orange, cast his vote for Republican canidate John McCain at the Marywood Retreat Center polling place, 2811 E. Villa Real Dr., early this evening.
Thorton said that his opposition to abortion rightst was a deciding factor in his vote.
“McCain is not going to raise anyone’s taxes,” said the father of four, “and Obama is too liberal in the right- to-choose issue. I won’t support anyone who is pro-choice.”
– Kelly Egan
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