What's the rush?

So many people from all over the country are voting early this year, either sending in absentee ballots even though they will be at home and able-bodied on election day or heading to early voting locations. I have to say I don't get the appeal. I know I'm not exactly the most traditional person around, but on this, I'm old school. I'll be getting up early on Tuesday and walking to my polling location (less than a block from my house). I will wait in line as long as I have to, though I have a hard time imagining I will really have to wait too long. My last presidential election in this town, I only had to wait 20 minutes or so. Even if I have to wait 4 hours, it'll be worth it. I can't think of a better use of my time than waiting with my fellow citizens for my turn to have my say.

I cast an absentee ballot one time: 1992 when I was a college student living in Minnesota. At least I think I did. (P, if I voted in MN let me know. I might be confusing my primary vote with my general election vote.) But at the time, I was a sophomore in college and definitely still thought of myself as a Kansan so it made sense that I would want to vote in congressional elections of the state I still felt like a part of.

In every other case, I have gone to the polls on election day. There's just something about the vibe. Seeing all the other folks exercising their right. Feeling the power of democracy in action. I love it and I wouldn't miss it for anything.

I know that I have a job that will allow me to miss way more than 2 hours to vote, where others might not. And it surely is much less convenient to go to the polls for those who have small children. But for me, as long as I am physically able, I will always make it a top priority to head to the polls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. Filling out a ballot in the comfort of your own home and mailing it in days ahead of time may be satisfying to some and others may like going on a Saturday or some other off day to get their vote in and done with. But I think nothing beats getting my ballot on election day, going into that little booth and pulling the curtains shut behind me, and then personally putting my ballot in the ballot box.

Of course, in the end, it really doesn't matter whether you vote early, absentee, or on election day just so long as you vote.

Scary night!

At one point tonight, I was in the presence of not one, not two, but THREE Sarah Palins! I have never been so scared in all my life. Oddly, in person she is much more masculine than on t.v. At least, two of her were.

My Halloween wish is that by next Friday, she will be safely back in her home state and I won't ever have to hear the word Maverick again (except when I choose to watch Top Gun).

It's Halloween: Who wants to hear a scary story?

Newest RNC ad in opposition to Barack Obama:

Picture a choppy ocean and storm clouds. Ominious voiceover says "we count on presidents to lead us. Some say this storm can't get worse, so Obama's quick rise to power and lack of experience can't hurt us. But what if it does get worse?"

Which reminds me of that scene from "The Truman Show." Poor Truman has been battered by the manufactured storm and shouts defiantly at whatever powers are out there, "Is that all you've got?"

Seriously, RNC, is that all you've got? Don't vote for their guy 'cause the world could get a lot worse? We hope to scare the bejeebus out of you so you'll be too afraid to vote for the other guy.

It's the same crap fear-mongering they've been peddling for 7 years now. And it's really a sad reflection on the state of the McCain campaign that the best message they can come up with is, "vote for us 'cause the country could slide closer to hell."

Voters: reject this message. We're stronger and better than this. We really don't have to be guided for fear. Let's be like the Verizon users in those commercials. The spooky-voiced person tries to warn the newcomer about the dead zone. But like the people in those commercials, we don't have to be afraid. Look back over your shoulders and remember the tens of thousands of people attending Obama's rallies. Turn back to the spooky narrator and say, calmly, "I've got the America network, so I'll be ok."

Reason #71 why I need this election to be over

Despite two alarms and a usually-eager-to-wake pup, this morning is the second morning in a row I have overslept, thereby missing my van pool. Who knows how much longer I'd have gone this morning if I hadn't gotten a phone call wondering where I was.

I guess I could be concerned for my health, make a visit to the doctor, go on sleeping pills. I should address this aggressively before my sleep cycle spirals out of control and becomes a serious health issue. Or maybe I could just stop reading political blogs until after midnight every night.

Trading Places

I'm trying to remember exactly how I felt and what I said in the lead up to the 2000 election. I know I was horrified at who the other side had nominated. I'm sure I was mystified about what they saw in this guy. I was furious that the campaign was not a rout, as I felt it clearly should have been. How could our clearly intelligent, qualified, sitting vice president be in danger of losing to that yahoo who had ruined every business his daddy had ever bought for him? I thought a Bush presidency would be a disaster. And in 2004, I was even more mystified. In that year, it would be more accurate to say I was enraged. Surely we couldn't be falling for this guy's crap again??

In both of those election years, I pissed and moaned and gnashed my teeth. I expressed outrage and fear for our future. I'm sure I made my fair share of gloom and doom predictions. The sky was definitely falling and it was perhaps enough to make me wonder if Armageddon was on its way (and I'm an atheist!).

I'm trying to keep all that in mind in the final days leading up to this current election. It seems with each passing day that the anti-Obama voters are sounding more desperate, giving into despair. They bemoan the beginning of socialism, the end of our country as we know it if Obama wins. It's unfathomable, how are we losing to this guy, we'll never survive. The words are different, but in spirit they now sound very much like I did in the last two campaign seasons.

But here's the thing: it's kind of hard to ignore the fact that I was right in 2000 and 2004. Does anyone really want to argue that the Bush administration hasn't been the most disastrous administration in this country's history? It's definitely top 3 at least. We've regressed to engaging in torture, endlessly incarcerating anyone we want to at Gitmo, and spying on our own damn citizens. We're mired in two wars, with no sign that we have any long-term strategy or end game for either one. We've lost the respect we once had as the leading nation in the world. It's dangerous and naive to think that the opinion the rest of the world has about us shouldn't be of concern to us. It seems to me we are more socially divided and more distrustful than ever. And our economy is a wreck. So it seems that hindsight makes all my gloom and doom predictions seem not so nuts.

Now maybe the anti-Obama folks could be ultimately proven right if (knock on wood) Obama wins next Tuesday. And maybe hindsight will again convince me I was right all along. But either way, I can't shake the idea that it's just my turn to win and their turn to worry. I endured the 8 years Bush voters put me through. It's now my turn to have a go at it with the candidate I support. We tried it their way; it didn't work. So now let's try it my way.

I promise in 4 years, if Obama turns out to be as scary as the anti-Obama crowd thinks, I will let them all say, "I told you so."

Obsession

Someone needs to remove "BrickBreaker" from my Blackberry. Seriously. My vision is blurry, my eyes are dry, and my hand is cramping. I need an intervention.

Sunday thoughts

Herm Edwards frankly has no business being an NFL head coach. Up 3 with about 6 minutes to go and Brett Favre on the opposite sideline, Herm (and his offensive coordinator, but the buck stops with Herm) ran 3 times. With an unproven running back. While we did take a good 2 minutes off the clock, we did not get a first down and had to punt from a spot that wouldn't give the Jets terrible field position. You just can't win in the NFL by playing that conservatively. Nor should you. Tyler Thigpen may not be the most awe-inspiring quarterback in the league, but check out these stats: 25/36, 280 yards, 2 tds, 0 ints. His qb rating throughout the game was hovering in the 150 range. (If you don't know football, that's a downright phenomenal number.) So, Herm, when we've got 3rd and 4 and need a first down to keep Brett Favre from pulling a Brett Favre, let your qb throw the dang ball to your Hall of Fame tight end or your can-out-jump-any-corner wide receiver. But you didn't do that, did you? You were content to punt the ball. And lose.