Signs taken for wonders

I woke up and listened to NPR this morning. Apparently someone in Pennsylvania is calling elderly people and telling them that they are ineligible to vote. Try telling that to the women I spoke to yesterday afternoon from the Democratic phone banks here in Oconee County: they didn't need my little reminder, and most of them didn't need the rides I was offering. They were ready to go out--all except the ones who had already voted.

But when I came out of swim practice it was raining, it was pouring. Bad weather can hurt turnout, and turnout helps Democrats.

But then I'm listening to my favorite morning show, which is doing a huge Get Out the Vote campaign. They had John Kerry on there, joking about his lucky jacket and talking about issues; the Reverend Jesse Jackson, looking out for disenfranchisement; Michael Moore, who has filmmakers at polls all over the place, keeping an eye on things and encouraging people to wait in line if they have to.

But then they told me that Chief J. Rehnquist didn't show up to work yesterday, probably because his cancer is worse than we thought. Sign of things to come.



And then I was happy because the plastic bag my newspaper came in said VOTE on it in big letters.

But then I saw the rest of the wording: VOTE FREEDOM FIRST: JIM DEMINT FOR SENATE, sponsored by the NRA Political Victory Fund. Oh great.

But there are inspiring things on the web today. Jarrett brought out his endorsement. Tony Pierce is voting for Kerry, now that Nader isn't on the California ballot. And today he added, "but could half you motherfuckers really be serious about four more years of this shit?"

Miniver Cheevy says, "Tonight, with any luck, I'll be partying like it's 1992."



Mathew Gross offers sage advice about how the day will go--advice that just might help moderate my mood swings. Plus this man blogs more than any soul I know: between when I last looked (about 10 minutes ago) and just now, he's got about 5 new posts.

But Gina Trapani reminds us that there is more in life than this election. I'm with her. Having read the early comments, I am signing off for the day. I'm going to read books and not watch TV. I am going to listen to lots of Billy Bragg. I am not working on my book today, because I do not trust myself not to spend the whole day surfing the web. I am turning off my computer. At noon I will go vote, and I will pick up the materials from the Democratic poll watcher at the Ravenel polling place. I will come home and read some more. I will go to the grocery store and buy chocolate chips for cookies, per Gina's suggestion. At three I will head back to the Democratic phone banks, to beg the faithful who have not voted not not not to forget, not to let this rain slow them down--or can we drive you? At six I will come home, put the finishing touches on some guacamole and fixins for fajitas (my partner marinated the chicken last night). At seven one of my dearest friends will join us for the televised nail biting. He may even bring some whiskey, just in case.

Have a good election day--and please vote.