The decision is in: President George Bush will serve another four years in the White House. The half of the country that voted for John Kerry now begins to cope with the bitter taste of defeat. At the polls in Baltimore, an overwhelmingly democratic city, several voters and Hopkins students voiced their rationales for supporting Senator Kerry.
Gren Whitman, a longtime political activist, cast his ballot for the Democratic challenger. His decision was as much a rejection of the President's policies as it was an endorsement of Kerry himself.
"There has been total mismanagement by the Bush administration," he said. Nor was Whitman happy with the decision to go to war in Iraq. "I was totally opposed to it. I never believed he would actually do it."
Even though Whitman had supported Green Party candidates in the past, he never considered voting for Ralph Nader in this year's contest.
"As much as I admire Ralph Nader, it's a spoiler vote. I want to see Bush out of office."
The line of people who had come to vote at the Waverly Public Library stretched more than fifty long by 8 a.m., winding like a snake outside the door.
"There's never been anything like this," said Whitman. "The amount of people here is overwhelming."
Whitman has been flyering for different candidates at 33rd and Barclay streets since 1970. On most election days, he could just jump inside the library, cast his vote, and spend the rest of the day passing out campaign literature. This year, however, the line formed even before the polls opened at 7 a.m.
Long lines and high turnout in Baltimore were part of a larger trend seen across the entire country. With the memory of the tantalizingly close result in 2000, and the country in the midst of another hotly contested presidential race, the public seemed to be reaffirming their belief in the old truism that "every vote counts."
Sakar Pudasaini, a 2003 graduate of Johns Hopkins who continues to live in the area, also voted for Senator Kerry.
"I don't like the manner in which the current administration conducts itself, doing business in secrecy and stifling dissent," he said. Pudasaini said he arrived at 7:10 a.m. and had to wait about an hour in line before he got the chance to vote.
Members of an organization called TrueVoteMD were waiting outside the polling place to record any voting problems or misconduct. Composed entirely of volunteers, TrueVoteMD stationed representatives across the state in an effort to correct discrepancies as they occurred. Several Hopkins students were among those who volunteered for the organization.
"If people have problems, we want to document it," said Lowell Larson, a volunteer for TrueVoteMD.
While the rest of Maryland was employing new touch-screen voting machines created by Diebold, Baltimore used older electronic models that are not touch screen but, like the newer machines, do not leave paper trails. At the Waverly library everything seemed to run smoothly, with no complaints among the several people interviewed.
Nicole Carmin, another 2003 graduate of Hopkins who currently works at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, said the biggest issue that affected her vote was the Iraq war.
"What's done is done, but Kerry will work harder to find an exit strategy," Carmin said.
A Towson University student, who would only identify herself as Annie, said she voted for Kerry as a rejection of Bush's job performance.
"I don't like how things have gone for the last four years and I don't think Bush should get another chance," said Annie.
She also had complimentary things to say about Kerry. "I like that he is thoughtful about the issues. Wishy-washy doesn't bother me. I like the fact that he is nuanced."
Just north of campus, at the English Lutheran Church at 3807 N. Charles St, a more mature and suburban crowd came to cast their votes. Here, too, the line was unusually long and the wait ranged from 35 minutes to an hour. Most people also seemed to be voting for the challenger, not the incumbent.
"I think Bush is destroying the country," said Ron Fish, an attorney. On Kerry, he was luke-warm. "I think he is well-meaning and pleasant. I don't agree with him 100 percent but we need a change."
Steve Leach, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, said his vote was driven predominantly by his desire for social justice.
"I think Kerry could be a better candidate, but it's a vote for the party and its ideals," Leach said. The fact that Maryland was declared a "blue" state a long time ago did not shy him away from coming to the polls.
"I think it's important that whoever wins the Electoral College also wins the popular vote. It gives a psychological edge," Leach said.
David Dardis, another attorney, was the first and only person interviewed who said he had voted for President Bush.
"I feel more confident with the current president in regards to national security and tax policy," said Dardis. He voiced disaffection with Kerry's proposal to raise taxes on the "so-called rich".
In regards to Iraq policy, Dardis didn't perceive any difference between the candidates.
"He says he was for the war and now against it, but he's not offering anything persuasive to improve the situation. I don't think the candidates have a very different vision going forward."
One of the concerns affecting voter decisions is the possibility that the next president will nominate one or more justices to the Supreme Court. That possibility motivated Michelle Slater, a third year graduate student in the Romance Languages at Hopkins, to vote for Kerry.
"One of my key issues was if Bush was elected the possibility of his naming conservative Supreme Court judges," she said. "[Kerry] is the anti-Bush. But I didn't feel entirely confident in him in the debates; his answers were less than satisfying."
Sylvia Zhu, a sophomore, vocalized other problems people have with the President.
"I'm not a fan of Bush's conservative social policies, his disregard for science, his erosion of the separation of church and state," she said.
At 9 a.m., Senator Barbara Mikulski emerged from the polling location on Charles St. to a swarm of television cameras and journalists. Mikulski, a Democrat, would win handidly in her re-election bid against Republican challenger E.J. Pipkin. She too was excited by the phenomenal turnout.
"This is going to be the biggest turnout in Maryland history," said the senator. "Every vote counts and every vote should be counted. It's not polling who determines the winner, it's the actual vote."
The senator also made sure she cast her vote for the persons she intended.
"I checked my name three times to make sure I got it right."
It was the beginning of a long election day whose outcome would determine the future of America. For Kerry voters, that future will not neccesarily be the the one they had hoped for.
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