Nerve Endings Firing Away

It is only few hours until the polls open to vote for the American Presidency. But that hasn’t stopped millions from already casting their vote through early voting or absentee ballots. The infamous Miami-Dade and Broward counties, known primarily for their voting inefficiencies, have witnessed historic turnout even before the official Election Day. The numbers show that almost two million or 35% of voters in the two counties will have already cast their votes before November 2nd dawns. Although voting too early may not let you change your vote in the event of a last-minute snafu, the chances of that happening in today’s spin world is extremely low. On the other side, almost 3% of the likely voters are still undecided in the statistical dead heat of opinion polls, giving both Bush and Kerry many sleepless nights. Ultimately, like some 2-seat descript non-party, they will finally tilt to one side choosing a President who will rule them for the next four years. Should voting for a four-year term President be an impulsive decision?

Frankly in such a charged up atmosphere, I am not sure what these undecideds are waiting for. I can understand their predicament — two white rich dudes from the same uppity Ivy League university can seem so similar. But never have been the candidates been more different than this time around. Unless you have slipped into a mind-numbing coma or walk around with those sight-restricting horse patches, I am not sure I want to believe that entire political hullabaloo has missed your town. Even if you are a pumped bull in crimson-red conservative Montana or an ultra libertarian college professor in azure-blue liberal Massachusetts, the news from other battleground or sharply divided states must have trickled in courtesy the partisan and seemingly neutral media. I passionately hate fence-sitters and might even grudgingly admit that I like that George Bush has a clear and firm conviction even if it is the wrong one. Get off those white suburban picket fences, pluck out the barb wire, and throw your hat in the ring even if it is for now-hopeless and dour Nader.

As Jon Stewart wonders, how do they even manage to dress themselves in the morning if they don’t know yet whom they are going to vote for? Are they waiting for some last-minute miracle? Heck, even O Binu made a special appearance on primetime Al Jazeera and got translated (partly) immediately to scare his American brethren. I thought that might push the undecided one way or the other but nope, they are waiting for some last minute magical climax but gotta remind them this is no Bollywood movie with a “kahani-mein-twist” end. Maybe Bruce Willis is not the ghost after all.