The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/election-day/page/3/)
UPDATE: As of 12:50 a.m. Wednesday, Tompkins County Legislator and assembly candidate Anna Kelles and D.A. challenger Ed Kopko lead election night returns. And downstate in New York’s 17th Congressional District, two Cornell alumni running for Congress are trailing behind a progressive favorite.
For three weeks after spring semester, I worked on a congressional campaign in my district, for a candidate who not only held policy positions I agreed with, but exemplified what I thought a leader should be. In a competitive Democratic primary with five qualified candidates, including a local office-holder who was considered the favorite, we thought it possible for an outsider with a scrappy but thorough field operation to squeak out a win. I went into our office every day believing that every single interaction I had with a voter could be the determining factor. And yet, in the final few days before the election, the candidate I worked for was knocking doors when she talked to a construction worker who didn’t know if he’d be able to make it to the polls on election day because they opened after he had to go to work and closed before he got home. Those of us on her campaign lamented that he might represent a sizable chunk of people who may have been able to swing the election toward us had they been able to get to the polls.
My mind has been beyond preoccupied with the upcoming election. Maybe it’s because this is the first presidential election that I’m eligible to vote in, or perhaps it’s because we’re essentially deciding between an experienced politician and a xenophobic businessman. Either way, I’ve been grasping at every last news story, praying to the universe that the fateful day in November will be okay. In browsing Facebook for the latest, I came across a trending hashtag about Death Cab for Cutie. As any reasonable person would, I clicked, but what I discovered surprised me.