Election night dilemma
Am I the only one wondering what to do tomorrow night? I've been invited to an "election results party," but I'm thinking of skipping, because I might be too tense to enjoy the company of others. And since I started blogging -- and reading RSS feeds of blogs as well as official news feeds -- I am usually brimming with an insane amount of current political information (too much reading of realclearpolitics.com, slate.com, dailykos,com...). In the quiet of Bethlehem, PA, detailed knowledge about the demographic shifts in Ohio, security problems in the software that many states are using for electronic voting (Diebold), the surprise disaffection with Bush in the suburban counties around Dallas ... well, it comes across as pretty wonky.
The latest election gossip is that Kerry might be in trouble in Pennsylvania after all, but some polls are suddenly giving him an advantage in Florida! And also -- the early voters in Iowa are voting overwhelmingly (60-40) for Kerry, so much so that the Iowa polls (which have favored Bush slightly in recent days) might end up being irrelevant. And then there's Ohio, which has been leaning Kerry, and Wisconsin, which Slate keeps calling for Kerry despite the presence of numerous polls with Bush on top! And Minnesota... Michigan... New Hampshire...
Aside from the election results party jitters, my biggest concern is that the evening will go on and on. The networks will be so cautious calling close races for either candidate that (unless there are some big surprises), no clear picture will probably emerge about anything until Wednesday. So Tuesday night might just turn out to be a long, stressful night with lots of Jeff Greenfield pontificating, and no resolution. Perhaps better just to turn the TV off and try and think about something else.
I have a talk to give at Swarthmore College on Wednesday afternoon (topic: "Women's Rights in India: Issues of Law and Religion"), so maybe I'll just spend the night in my office with strictly timed/limited internet checks (2 minutes online/every half hour).
The latest election gossip is that Kerry might be in trouble in Pennsylvania after all, but some polls are suddenly giving him an advantage in Florida! And also -- the early voters in Iowa are voting overwhelmingly (60-40) for Kerry, so much so that the Iowa polls (which have favored Bush slightly in recent days) might end up being irrelevant. And then there's Ohio, which has been leaning Kerry, and Wisconsin, which Slate keeps calling for Kerry despite the presence of numerous polls with Bush on top! And Minnesota... Michigan... New Hampshire...
Aside from the election results party jitters, my biggest concern is that the evening will go on and on. The networks will be so cautious calling close races for either candidate that (unless there are some big surprises), no clear picture will probably emerge about anything until Wednesday. So Tuesday night might just turn out to be a long, stressful night with lots of Jeff Greenfield pontificating, and no resolution. Perhaps better just to turn the TV off and try and think about something else.
I have a talk to give at Swarthmore College on Wednesday afternoon (topic: "Women's Rights in India: Issues of Law and Religion"), so maybe I'll just spend the night in my office with strictly timed/limited internet checks (2 minutes online/every half hour).
3 Comments:
Go to the party. I wish I could.
And just suck up not getting any sleep--no one in your audience on Wednesday will have had sleep, either. You can make a joke about it at the beginning, and everyone will laugh.
Def. Party with like-minded heavy drinkers.
But what I really wanted to comment on was the Bollywood video. Thanks for that link. Except I watched it without Bush' voice-over, some classic clips!
Party. This is going to be a joyous night and you'll want to be with other to share it.
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