Midtown Atlantans Share their Votes

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Just before noon in midtown Atlanta, a slow trickle of voters ambled into the All Saints Episcopal Church, across from the Bank of America Plaza, to vote.

WABE's Odette Yousef caught up with a few on their way out.

Aside from the hum of traffic on Ponce de Leon Avenue, and children playing on the church grounds, it was a quiet scene.

All those that we spoke with voted for Democratic candidates:

CHAPIN: I'm Johanna Chapin, I'm 37 years old, I live in Atlanta, and I'm a current stay-at-home parent of 2 kids.

Chapin, a Democrat, voted for Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

CHAPIN: Quite honestly, it was a gut decision. I felt I would honestly at the end of the day be happy with either candidate. But Barack Obama just had a, just sort of a visceral, instinctual appeal for me. And I also, I just sort of keep on chewing on Hillary Clinton's vote on the Iraq war, and I just have a hard time with that.

Obama also earned a crossover vote from 63-year old Tom Crouch. The Fulton County resident and Republican says Obama's positions on key issues resonate with him:

CROUCH: His stand on the Iraq war, and the need for real change.

27-year old Melissa Kofad, of Atlanta, is normally unaffiliated, but she came out today to vote for New York Senator Hillary Clinton:

KOFAD: I think that her universal health plan coverage is good. And I like the fact that she supports gay rights, and that she supports a woman's rights to choice.

SLOUGH: I'm not a Hillary fan.

Atlanta business owner Rad Slough also came out to vote because of Hillary, but for a very different reason:

SLOUGH: I don't agree with a lot of statements she's made, and I like what Obama has said. And so, I'm hoping to have him be my Democratic choice.

The latest polls show Obama with a strong lead over Clinton among Georgia democrats.

Odette Yousef, WABE News.