E-Day Minus 1

There's a time to vote your conscience, and a time to vote because you're scared.

The interesting thing is, everyone seems to be voting the latter. Many Bush supporters are voting for him because they believe he's a good, moral, religious guy who gives it to 'em straight and they're scared of life under someone who they view as fitting none of the above descriptions. Others are scared of their taxes going up. Meanwhile, almost every Kerry supporter I've spoken with is just plain scared by the prospect of four more years under the Bush administration's policies. There's not much by way of common language.

Here's some of what I'm wondering this time around:

• How long will it be before we have an official outcome? I'm putting the over-under at one month.
  
• Which state will be this year's Florida? Right now, Ohio seems to be neck-and-neck with the incumbent.
  
• How off were the polls? Most of them have showed a pretty even split since well before the final push. Then you take a look at the fine print and see that they're asking "likely voters". What's a likely voter, anyway? Someone who voted in the last election? In that case, it's no surprise that the results are pretty evenly split. (Think about it.) Both campaigns sponsored major registration drives in the swing states, and hardly anyone's asking the first-timers.
  
• How did my car key fall off my keychain on Saturday night? This has nothing to do with the elections; I'm just wondering. (I eventually found it on the sidewalk, saving me the hassle of calling AAA at 3 in the morning. Still. Weird.)
  

So buckle up, kids; we're almost ready to go. This oughta be interesting.