John McCain? Who’s John McCain?

Despite the fact that Tennessee is expected to devote its electoral votes to McCain, there was little sign in parts of north and east Nashville today that anyone other then Barack Obama is running for president.

Demonstrators for Obama fill many street corners. Mothers and young children walked down the streets in handmade T-shirts reading ‘Yes, We Can.’ Signs supporting Obama dominate the front yards of these areas, as well as entrances to polling places.

There was a lone sign for McCain in front of the Whites Creek Fire Hall. And earlier today, volunteers for Obama at Haynes Middle School reported seeing a truck with a McCain-Palin sign, but they say with big smiles, that they “ran it off.”

Yusef Harris, of Jefferson Street business Alkebu-Lan Images, today operated a street corner sales tent for Obama signs and T-shirts. The shirts have pictures of Obama’s face on large postage stamps capturing the sentiment that Election Day today is a unique moment in history. Harris’ shop specializes in African-American books, gifts, apparel and education materials, and he said today that he has been selling Obama wares in his store for the last 12 months.

Drivers on the street nearby honked in support as they passed. Less than half a block away, supporters waved from their stations in front of Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church, where volunteers stand behind grills preparing for an Obama rally and ‘fish fry’ there at 6 this evening.

Christopher McCrea, a visitor to Harris’ booth, said support for Obama isn’t limited to north and east Nashville. Volunteers are working throughout west Nashville as well, and even in Belle Meade — a predominantly white affluent area — it’s clear that “houses are divided” based on signs in the yards, McCrea said.

“I live out in Bellevue, and [Obama volunteers] owned every corner there,” McCrea said.

Black supporters for Obama over the age of 50 readily bring up recollections of the Civil Rights movement. Sam Smith, a longtime track coach at Metro Nashville Public Schools, said he marched in the movement. He said he grew up in Mississippi and never dreamed that he would see a black man become president of the United States.

Even as recently as the last few years, Smith said he knew that black Americans would seek the office, but he did not think he would see one elected in his lifetime.

Obama volunteer Melva Black said there is “more momentum” in the black community then there was when Rev. Jesse Jackson ran for president.

Though Jackson’s bid “generated electricity,” she said Obama’s emphasis on hope and change brings people together. She compared the level of organization for Obama to the Civil Rights movement, and said this degree of broad support and activism has been seen only rarely in her lifetime.

“I think God is at work with this thing,” Black said. “Never before in our history have we seen this kind of collective.”

North Nashville is a predominantly black neighborhood, and east Nashville is diverse racially and socio-economically. But it wasn’t just black voters demonstrating in support of Obama. White supporters stand with their black counterparts on street corners, and the Rev. James Thomas (whose church is holding the rally and fish fry tonight) said he is “amazed” at the number of young voters both black and white who he believes are turning out for Obama.

White voter Denise Benson, a local songwriter who lives near north Nashville’s Hadley Park Community Center, said she is casting her vote for Obama because he knows what it means to work for what he has. Despite the statewide projections, she believes Obama can take Tennessee.

“I think Tennesseans are smarter than people think,” Benson said. “I’m hopeful for a better life in the United States.”