The Big Day

People are voting. I wish I could simultaneously knock on the door of every American voter and encourage everyone to vote for John Kerry. This is SO important!

Instead, I am a spectator.

Tonight, I will go home and watch enough cable news for the next four years of my life. Hopefully, by the time I go to sleep, I will know who the president is. If not, I will wake ups tomorrow and watch some more cable news. It's like staring at a terrible car accident, or not being able to turn off a crime drama because you need to see the end. Only, I am a woman obsessed with politics.

Despite being a tad nervous about the outcome, I do like the excitement that is in the air. I like the fact that all of the voting Americans are going to be having a shared experience today, that so many people are going to the polls to exercise their right to vote and to make their voices heard. And that so many Americans are engaged in this process. We have thousands and thousands of new voters this year and I suppose that is one of the positive outcomes of all the political rancor we've been subjected to (or a part of) for so many months and years. Even though we are so polarized and have been fighting for so long, maybe (and I know it's a big maybe) this election will bring people together in the end? Whatever happens, there seems to be a calm hovering above the United States right now. Is it the calm before the storm of lawyers and partisan wrangling? Or maybe it's the calm after the storm of negative ads and campaigning we've endured for the past year. Perhaps it's just the calm between storms...

j.g.s Election Prediction: Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that I am way too informed about this race, I can't even begin to make a prediction...