The Final Push

A few blogs ago, I was wishing for a time machine to transport me to November 7, the day after the election. Well it seems as if my wish may have come true, time has sped by in a blur, and here we are on the day before the election. We are on the verge of re-electing a President who is leading us in the right direction.....or the greatest upset in U.S. electoral history. The polls....which have literally driven me crazy...have both candidates tied as far as the popular vote is concerned. Mr. Obama still has the slim advantage in most swing states, and has an easier path to the magical 270 mark for electoral votes. Mr. Romney has a much harder path, but is trying to win this thing by any means necessary. (my apologies to Malcolm X). Nate Silver,a blogger from the New York Times, has predicted that Obama has an 86.3% chance of winning as opposed to Romney's 13.7% chance. (There was an interesting story on CBS Sunday Morning about how Silver arrives at his numbers) Although I like those odds....Karl Rove is still lurking, and could still steal this thing.
I spent most of Saturday with my wife and two other friends making a final push in Virginia to Get Out the Vote (GOTV).  We knocked on close to 70 doors, and left literature (Obama leaning of course) to remind Virginians to vote on Tuesday.We chose to stay relatively close by, and  canvassed in Sterling,Virginia. But the coordinated campaign headquarters did deploy folks deep into Virginia.  As far south as the Tidewater area.There will even be people staying overnight in Virginia to GOTV on Election Day itself. This is serious business, and if Virginia stays blue, I think Maryland should get a lot of the credit.

I will not make any predictions about this election. I think you can sense how I want it to go. I think that President Obama has been a remarkable President. Sure, all the hope and change promised in 2008 didn't quite pan out....but when do campaign promises ever work out? The one important thing is that the nation is moving in the right direction under his leadership. He pushed legislation through, even against opposition. We look better in the eyes of foreign leaders. He was the comforter-in chief during the Superstorm Sandy crisis last week, as well as several other tragic events (the Aurora theater shooting comes to mind). I just can't picture Mr. Romney in any of those roles.
I do have a couple of other election related tasks before the actual thing tomorrow. But essentially...it's done.All the speeches have been spoken. The political commercials are just background noise. Even President Obama says he's just a prop.The groundwork has been done. It's all up to the American people now. Although I  and many Marylanders did vote early...the bulk of the votes will come on Election Day. If it's a short evening after the polls close...I think it will be good for us. If the night is extended....well can you say Supreme Court. I hope not. But we will all know on November 7....and I will park my time machine.