Let's get enfranchised

It's a word, all by itself, without the dis-. I looked it up.

en fran' chise vt 1. to free from slavery, bondage, etc. 2. to give a franchise to; specif., to admit to citizenship, esp. to the right to vote.

This election enfranchisement is making a comeback.

From 6:30 this morning until 2 this afternoon, I was standing on a sidewalk in Alameda with a small group of volunteers waving signs and talking to people about Proposition 8. Lots of people told us they had already voted no. Lots honked their horns and waved.

Some people told us we shouldn't be talking to people outside a polling place, even though we were 100 feet away. One woman told me she was so angry about it that if she hadn't already decided to vote no because she thought Prop. 8 was wrong, she would have voted yes because we had talked to her. "People have already made up their minds about important measures!" she fumed. "But some haven't," I countered. "Well they should have!" she yelled, and stomped off.

I saw volunteers on other corners waving Obama signs. A woman told me that her daughter was heartbroken that she was born on November 8, so she wouldn't get to vote in this election by 4 days. I don't ever remember there being so much excitement around participating in the democratic process.

Then, this woman walked up to me and another volunteer. "Give me two reasons," she said. "You give me one," she pointed to me, "and you give me one," she pointed to Nama. "Two reasons why I should vote no. I'm on the fence."

I told her that I thought the constitution should protect people's rights, not take them away. Nama said that all people should be treated as equals.

"That's what bothers me," the woman said. "I believe in individual rights and all these people who have been married, I don't think we should take that away from them."

I asked if I could add another reason and she agreed. I told her that my wife and I had been together for 14 years and that we love and support each other and we wanted our relationship to be recognized. Nama said that she and her wife had been together for 16 years.

"But," said the woman, "I think that a man and woman being together is different from a woman and a woman, don't you?" Nama laughed and said, "If you had any idea how boring our lives are. We are just like any other couple." I agreed and said that we had supported each other through good and bad times, just like any couple that marries promised to do, and that our daily lives were pretty dull.

"Thank you," the woman said. "I still don't know how I'm going to vote, but thank you for talking to me."

Although the lines were not long, it took her about 30 minutes to come out again. I asked if she would be willing to tell me how she voted. "I voted no," she said, "because of what you said to me. You two put a face on it for me. I won't be able to tell my best friend how I voted, but I'm glad I talked to you."

Then (and I wish I was making this up) a guy walked by and asked if I needed a sperm donor.