02.11.04
There was a light rain early this morning that plinked on our tin roof and woke me up about 5:30. I decided to get up and out at 6:00 when the birds also got up and the sky was beginning to lighten. I walked out front and sat on the patio for a bit. Not long after, Genet popped her head out the front door and asked how the election went. I said I didn't know. She asked if I wanted to turn on the TV and watch. I ran to get Andy, whose last words to
me last night were, "I wonder if I could pay them to let me sleep in the bar and just watch CNN all night." He was lying awake in bed. He hadn't been able to sleep either. When I told him they'd opened the bar an hour early for us to watch, he sprung (really, I know that's cliché, but he did spring) out of bed and threw on clothes and grabbed the papaya I bought yesterday, to share with everyone up there.
Then he spent SIX hours watching CNN International's live feed from CNN USA headquarters with Larry King and Wolf Blitzer etc. While I write this it's 5:42am on Wednesday morning in Salt Lake, barely even the day after Election Day there, so actually, he did get to watch the election all night. Slowly, slowly, as results came in, his excitement dulled, his anticipation evaporated. He is depressed but philosophical about it. What this makes clear to me is just how much of a bubble I've been living in for the past six months, bizarrely, in one of the most Republican states in the Union. It just seemed so sure that Bush's record wouldn't recommend him to people. I've never paid so much attention to an election, and so never felt like so much was at stake, and so never felt so disappointed at the results. This election has, along with the dialogue between family and friends, been good
for making me figure out how I decide to vote for someone and how I stand on different issues. And granted, Andy's take has only been one, his interest in the manoeverings and "politics" as much as the issues, has also been an education.
I suspect it was better for him to be a continent and an ocean away for this election, with very limited information about it. "I wonder," he says, "if this is the begininng of the slow decline of America as the strongest country in the world." But he catches himself. "Its not that bad. It's not like we're going to become North Korea in four years."
me last night were, "I wonder if I could pay them to let me sleep in the bar and just watch CNN all night." He was lying awake in bed. He hadn't been able to sleep either. When I told him they'd opened the bar an hour early for us to watch, he sprung (really, I know that's cliché, but he did spring) out of bed and threw on clothes and grabbed the papaya I bought yesterday, to share with everyone up there.
Then he spent SIX hours watching CNN International's live feed from CNN USA headquarters with Larry King and Wolf Blitzer etc. While I write this it's 5:42am on Wednesday morning in Salt Lake, barely even the day after Election Day there, so actually, he did get to watch the election all night. Slowly, slowly, as results came in, his excitement dulled, his anticipation evaporated. He is depressed but philosophical about it. What this makes clear to me is just how much of a bubble I've been living in for the past six months, bizarrely, in one of the most Republican states in the Union. It just seemed so sure that Bush's record wouldn't recommend him to people. I've never paid so much attention to an election, and so never felt like so much was at stake, and so never felt so disappointed at the results. This election has, along with the dialogue between family and friends, been good
for making me figure out how I decide to vote for someone and how I stand on different issues. And granted, Andy's take has only been one, his interest in the manoeverings and "politics" as much as the issues, has also been an education.
I suspect it was better for him to be a continent and an ocean away for this election, with very limited information about it. "I wonder," he says, "if this is the begininng of the slow decline of America as the strongest country in the world." But he catches himself. "Its not that bad. It's not like we're going to become North Korea in four years."
posted by Johanna Buchert Smith at 11:16 PM
1 Comments:
I liked Andy's comment about we're not goona become North Korea in 4 years. I totally had a thought like that earlier this campaign season. All in all, the things that presidential candidates say and do don't really matter because of the checks and balances system. No matter what kind of lunatic gets elected, he's really got to persuade a lot of people to go along with him before he can do much harm. I'm not syaing it hasn't been done before, but there are limits. So we can just be grateful for a divinely inspired constitution that prevents things from swinging too far to the right or left.
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