4:59: Krystal Sirkin said she voted for her Republican congressman Tuesday to show support for American troops and President Bush. Her feelings were personal -- she'll soon be in the military during a war that is dividing the nation.
"I'm in the ROTC, and the war is definitely a big issue since I'll graduate this year and I'll be going in the Army," the 21-year-old Fresno Republican said. "Of course, my first obligation is to defend the Constitution, and of course, the president is my commander-in-chief."Sirkin voted for Rep. Devin Nunes in east-central Fresno.She and other Bush supporters in the Valley trekked to the polls on a day when voters across the nation decided which party would control the U.S. Congress for the next two years, and perhaps with it, the direction of the war.Voters opposed to Bush and his Iraqi policies expressed equally heartfelt feelings, suggesting that analysts were correct in saying that the conflict in Iraq was the 500-pound gorilla of the election campaign."It is the issue," Sally Alvid said after voting in west-central Fresno. "I feel we have spent too much money and we don't have any clear direction and too many valuable lives have unnecessarily ended too soon."Democrat Alvid, who said she's in her 60s, voted for Democratic congressional candidate TJ Cox, who was running against Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, in a district that includes part of Fresno.Alvid said she hoped if Democrats seize control of Congress they would balance a Republican administration that she believes "doesn't give a damn to what people are saying."