First street pre-election diary,* part 2: A day doesn’t get any longer than this

Manifestations of paranoia and neurosis in a person thrown into deep uncertainty:

+ In passing Midvale and University Avenue I saw the usual Wisconsin 'hardy' types (I'm borrowing a label used by Kerry yesterday to describe Wisconsinites; the man appears to have great faith in our 'constitution') standing, waving signs to honk for Kerry. A sea of traffic passed. I toot-toot-tooted a good number of times, but I was the only one. What does this mean??

+ I watched NBC this morning and I noted that Katy Couric interviewed Laura Bush. Katy!! What are you doing?? Why do I have to listen to Laura rhapsodize about her husband on the morning of the election?? And btw, for those who have long told me that they like Laura alright even as they hate George, let me just remark that she seemed barely sensible. Sharp would not be a word I would use to characterize her early morning conversation. Not that it matters, but I am feeling hostile toward that whole Laura-thing this morning, especially as I juxtapose it with memories of punches levied against Hillary, to say nothing of Teresa.

+ In my office, the lines are evenly drawn – and I am referring only to the Democrats (yes, we have diversity here among the faculty and staff, lots of political diversity; but just so you know, our traditionally most conservative professor emeritus told me that he is voting for Kerry – he cannot stand the current administration): there were the optimists and the pessimists. I want to say that there are more of the former than the latter, but it’s not true. Moreover, the optimists tell me that they are somewhat skewing their own perspective because they just want Kerry to win so very much.

+ I have not voted yet. I am reaching a point of deep paralysis. I want to spend the next four hours polling more colleagues, reading more reports and commentaries. One of my daughters gently said earlier today “please don’t forget to vote” and I laughed at the time, but could it be that I may be so lost in my neurotically fragmented world that I may, indeed, forget to vote???

(*see “forty-second street pre-election diary” post, September 22, for explanation of post title)