Seventy-odd years ago, Everett Poole recalls, the first Democrat appeared in Chilmark. He ran the post office.

“The reason he was a Democrat was that Franklin Roosevelt was President and those jobs were all political appointments. So he had to be a Democrat. He came from Maine,” said Mr. Poole.

“As the post office grew larger, they wanted a clerk, so his wife became a Democrat too.”

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Vineyard election officials are expecting a record turnout for Tuesday’s election following a rush of new voter registrations and a huge number of absentee ballots already cast.

The number of absentee ballots as of yesterday was in some cases close to twice that normally seen at a presidential election, a sure sign, Island town clerks said, of an engaged electorate, and a likely indicator of an unprecedented turnout.

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Following a frenzied weekend of rallies for two of the 2008 Democratic Presidential contenders, the third of the front runners, Barack Obama. slid quietly into the Vineyard early this week for aclosed-door high-ticket fundraiser and no fanfare.

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