Went and voted this morning with my wife and my youngest son. The two older ones were already at school. The scene was not that unusual, except for the number of cars at the polling place. I’m in a Pennsylvania college town, so there were plenty of Obama people outside the polling place but no McCain people. That’s a pity, maybe I should have taken the day off and done a lonely vigil. It’s not like I haven’t pulled sentry duty before. I was voter 182 in our precinct of 800. I waited in line for about twenty minutes. It was no big deal. The poll workers were already commenting about how heavy the turnout was, but everything went orderly and by the book. Just like I planned, I voted for McCain. My youngest giggled when I pressed the “VOTE” button. He was surprised how easy it is to vote. I told him he could tell all his friends at school that he went into a real voting booth during a real election. He was psyched about that. He walked a little straighter and held his head high. My wife was a Hillary supporter in the democratic primaries. She hadn’t made up her mind up until she was in the booth. She couldn’t decide who she liked better. In the end she chose to trust the pilot, she voted for McCain.

Well all of the schools that my sons go to held mock presidential elections today. I’ve one son in elementary, one son in middle school and one son in high school. In the middle school it was 2 to 1 in favor of Obama, and in the High School it was 3 to 2 in Obama’s favor. In the elementary school contest the vote was 147 McCain 146 Obama. There is something weird about that spread between the schools. Perhaps it shows the difference between the influence of parents or teachers for each age group, or it shows how teens are more motivated by emotion or need for inclusive fitness, or it may mean nothing at all. My youngest voted for McCain, when I asked him why, he said he thinks McCain would spend government money wisely and not waste it. He also thought that Obama would spend too much (government) money and that would force economy into a recession. When asked what a recession is, his answer was “That’s when people dont have any money, and a lot of people dont have jobs” It is really disconcerting to hear this from a nine year-old fourth grader. His reasoning may be off a bit, but his concerns are way ahead of his years. In contrast, his two older brothers both voted for Obama. When I asked why they chose Obama, both answered with with a variation of “Obama is just better”. When pressed on this point neither could give a detailed or reasoned answer. All three of them are quite bright, but I’m a bit surprised the two older ones are seemingly smitten with Obama. I’m hoping that more people here in Pennsylvania vote based on reasoned assessment of the candidate’s intentions, their record and character, than vote based on emotional appeal and desire for inclusive fitness among the hip crowd. Make of this what you will.

Well the Phillies won it. My sympathy and condolences to Rays fans. Now I’m just hoping that John McCain and Sarah Palin can pull-off an upset, with all of our help of course, against the presumptive President-elect. Even here in Penn’s Woods it just may go our way. Should that happen, my daily Lager double at dinner time will have that much more savor to it. Victory is within sight, once more into the breach dear friends, once more into the breach!

Well it seems like The Keystone State, might really be in play for McCain/Palin. None other than Ed Rendell, my state’s Governor, confirmed it. Check it out.

Rendell ‘still a little nervous’ about Penn., asks Obama to return

He’s asking for Obama and the Clintons to both campaign in the state. Two weeks to go and McCain just might pull this off and also get my home state. Boy that would be sweet. Well I’ll do my part, cast my vote for McCain/Palin, and do my best to convince family, friends and acquaintances to do the same. Who knows maybe the Phillies will win the World Series and McCain/Palin wins the Presidential election with Pennsylvania contributing 21 EVs to his total. That would certainly put a happy silly grin on my face for several weeks.

Well this bailout bill business, with defeated legislation rising like the undead, compelled me to write my Congressman. The redacted copy follows for your enlightenment, critique, and enjoyment.

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