I Voted, Have You?

This early voting stuff is the bomb. There was a fairly decent crowd at our alternate early voting place, across from the courthouse, which is not very handicapped/elderly-friendly. The new place is much easier to get in and out of. We were there at about 1:30 p.m. yesterday and at that hour, all the voting machines were in use, with three or four people ahead of us in line and a few more coming in behind us. I think it is safe to assume that there were only two of us voting for Obama.

I thought that once I had voted, I would just relax and let the chips fall where they may, but the minute I got home, on went the TV so I could see if anything startling had happened while I was out. Whew! I'll be glad when next Wednesday gets here so I can either celebrate or mourn the results. I have a feeling that there will be lawsuits, once again, because the polls may very well be misleading, and the loser, whoever it may be, and his followers, will be convinced that the election was stolen.

There are a few things that bother me about Obama's campaign, I must admit. The amount of money he has collected and spent should have him much farther ahead if it is true that elections can be bought. And, if they can't, then the obscene amount is a waste, and I can't think of a better advertisement for public funding, such as that taken by McCain. I realize that Obama had to campaign all over the country because he didn't have the necessary name recognition, and public financing wouldn't have come close to paying the bills. But, it makes me wonder about our political system.

Another thing that bothers me is that I can't shake the notion that when push comes to shove, many people who have said they were going to vote for Obama will get in front of those voting machines and say to themselves, "Nope. I just can't do it." and will vote for McCain strictly on the color of his skin. This feeling has stayed with me throughout the campaign, and I hope I'm wrong. If I am, I'll say so on my first blog after election day. But, I have to say, even though I supported Obama and voted for him, deep down, I still think that Hillary would have been the best choice, with all her baggage and Bill and his baggage.

There are many things I don't like about the McCain campaign, but the main ones are John McCain and Sarah Palin, and the overall tone of their message. I think they are both the wrong choices for their offices. The John McCain of today has been unrecognizable compared to the John McCain of a few years ago. Many of his longtime friends and colleagues have commented on it, so it's not just me. He has been all over the map with his "secret plans", the idiotic Joe the Plumber farce and his choice of running mate was simply irresponsible. He is living in a dream world if he thinks he's immortal, and look what we're left with if something happens to him.

I'm going to try not to watch as much TV until the weekend, but I can already tell you I'll fail miserably. Why should I stop obsessing just because I voted early?

More rambling later.