It’s 2010 and I’ve lost interest in my nation’s politics. 2008 brought us our first African American President and a seemingly liberal swing in the nation’s views. It was groundbreaking. Or was it?
We may have changed to a Congress dominated by Democrats, but it seems like it may shift back now, just as it did during the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. What I find changes policies are the people themselves. So how do the Upper East Side voters feel?
Eleanor Roosevelt High School at 411 E. 76th St. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, housed its polling place in a large open room on the second floor. It was kind of eerily empty for such a large school when I arrived at 7 p.m. and stayed until polls closed at 9 p.m.
People continued to trickle in during the last two hours. The workers were exhausted from the nearly 16 hours of work they had put in.
Ann Wren, 57, told me she had seen a steady flow of people throughout the day. The polling site saw over 300 people, which Wren, who has been working polls for around 10 years now, said is a pretty average turnout.
But Wren’s experience led her to become frustrated with the amount of bureaucracy in the election process. “Simplify the system of voting,” Wren said. “It could be streamlined and a bit less convoluted.”
Terry Doktor, 63, made it clear he was there to make money. As far as the races go, he was only focused on the race for Governor. “Nobody really cares about the others,” he told me.
Overall this Tuesday, the Upper East Side, and much of New York for that matter, saw very little change. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand kept their senate seats, and Carolyn Maloney stayed on as Representative of the 14th District, which covers the Upper East Side.
So there it is. Maybe I’m not the only one. This sleepy neighborhood brought out an average turnout, even when “Tea Party Fever” is sweeping the nation, and saw similar results. Looks like the elections this year really didn’t change anything here.
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