Election Day Is Here, Finally

This has been the longest presidential election cycle ever. It's been going on for, what, about 17 years now ? It seems like it. I have Obama's rap down so well that I know what he's going to say before he says it. I amuse my girlfriend by pausing the television and then telling her exactly what Obama is about to say, and then playing back Obama's answer to see how close I was. I'm usually right on the money. It's almost eerie, really. If you listen to Obama enough, you start to realize how robotic he is, how programmed his responses are. The media refers to this as Obama being "focused" and "on message." He certainly is that. Maybe familiarity does breed contempt, because I have Obama fatigue, and he hasn't even been elected yet. Not that I mean to bring anyone down from their "hope" and "change" Obama high. I'm just making an observation.

This has also been the most expensive election cycle ever, by far. According to the Wall Street Journal, the presidential campaign has cost $1.6 billion in 2008, more than double what it cost four years ago. In total, WSJ estimates the cost of all the political campaigns across the country at $5.3 billion. Barack Obama has raised more than $620 million, smashing all previous records. Ironically, both presidential candidates talk about keeping the money and special interests out of Washington D.C. At least John McCain stuck to his public campaign financing pledge, even though it put him at a huge disadvantage. Obama did not stick to his word, choosing instead what was politically convenient. If past is prologue for an Obama presidency, that does not bode well.

It does appear that Obama will win, if the polls are to be believed. All the polls have Obama ahead. Professional people run these polls, so they are probably accurate. As proof, look at how accurate the polls have been in the past. Why, they haven't been wrong since way back in………2004, the last presidential election. The polls had John Kerry winning that one by 3-5%, and he lost by 3 million votes. Maybe everybody should go vote in spite of the fact that the experts are saying Obama has it all wrapped up, just to be sure. I'm not a big fan of letting the media tell me how things are supposed to be anyway.

This election is historic, and interest is high. The voter turnout should be the largest ever. I'm glad people are taking an interest in politics. That is a good thing. Americans have been far too lethargic about political matters in the past. In some parts of the country, such as Indianapolis, Philadelphia, some Alabama counties, some Missouri counties, and others, enthusiasm is so high that more people have registered to vote than are even eligible to vote. Indianapolis, for instance, has registered 105% of it's eligible voters. Now, THAT'S enthusiam, folks. Power to the people ! From a single ACORN grows a mighty oak tree. And the Democrats tell me they are going to make darned sure that every one of those registered voters will indeed get to cast their ballots. There won't be any voter suppression THIS time, by God. Dead or alive, the voters will have their voices heard.

I voted early last saturday, and the process didn't exactly fill me with confidence that Ohio voter fraud will be rooted out. Nobody was asked to produce any identification. You just had to fill out a piece of paper that required you to write down either the last four digits of your Social Security number, your Drivers license/State ID number, or a utility bill/bank statement with your name on it (or your name written in crayon on a Post-It). Even if you had none of those, you could still cast a provisional ballot. Using the terminology of my former profession as a computer programmer, the system appears WAAAAAYYY easy to hack, doubly so if they are only checking the ballot cards against voter registrations, as I suspect they might be doing. If this election turns out to be close and hinges on a few hundred Ohio votes, we are going to have a firestorm of national controversy that will make Florida in 2000 look like a tea party. I hope I'm wrong about this, but I was concerned. So was the fellow I struck up a conversation with while waiting to vote. His name was Luke Skywalker.

I'm not going to try to tell anyone how they should vote. Each person has to make that decision for themselves. If you want to make the catastrophic mistake of voting for the inexperienced left wing socialist Barack Obama, that is your prerogative. I'm certainly not going to try to influence you to vote instead for the genuine American hero John McCain, who has earned the right to be president through a lifetime of public service and the acquired knowledge of over two decades in Congress. No, I would never do that.

Happy voting, America !