PEAD Off
I wanted to post on Friday, but I got home from school late on Thursday, after another 5 am day following another sleepless night. Next thing you know, I was taking an unscheduled nap, which started with falling asleep in front on the computer. By the time I woke up, the cable news shows had started, and I had to see how they were spinning the day's events. One show led into another, including a double dose of Hardball and the second airing of The Daily Show, and by the time that wrapped up it was too late to start writing about politics. So now I sit eating Halloween candy and spilling my guts.
There's a word for what I have, according to the Washington Post. It's PEAD, and it stands for Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder. Millions of Americans are suffering from it, fueled by the media overdrive, the multiplying polls, the growing lawsuits and gathering lawyers in states from Florida to Oregon. This, on top of the emotional stress many of us on both sides feel about whatever handbag the world will go to hell in should the other candidate be elected. The specter of terrorists running wild in the streets has been fueled in our imaginations, but the true terror has been sown by political operatives on both sides who seek to control the electorate as much as possible, and to the degree that is not possible, remove them from the picture altogether. The mere fact that I speak of "operatives on both sides" is bound to result in volleys of email from readers ranting about how much worse the other side is then their own. I can't even mock them for their obsession, because I am in the throes of it myself.
Meanwhile, the page at washingtonpost.com which runs the story on Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder displays a huge ad for CNN's America Votes 2004 coverage, featuring the grim visages of the two combatants. Links lead to "The Pundits Pick," the Post's electoral college map, and the results of their latest tracking poll. This is not what I need. I need pictures of puppies and bunnies and stories of Halloween and Indian Summer. I need a trip to Disney World. Except that it's in Florida, which is a swing state, and which has already had voting problems, and where the final vote is bound to be contested again this year, no matter who wins.
I can't wait until Wednesday. Like the majority of Americans (according to the polls), I don't expect the election to be resolved by then. I expect there to be court challenges in several states. I believe there's a good chance that victory will eventually be granted to the side which wins the most cases, rather than the one which wins the most votes. But at least by Wednesday I'll know which states are in contention, and I won't be constantly checking the news to see the latest poll results in Nevada or New Mexico or now, Hawaii, for god's sake. Recounts will allow me to focus just on Florida and Ohio and whatever other states come into question. I'll still be obsessed, and burning with a white hot anger, but at last the issues will be clear.
There's a word for what I have, according to the Washington Post. It's PEAD, and it stands for Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder. Millions of Americans are suffering from it, fueled by the media overdrive, the multiplying polls, the growing lawsuits and gathering lawyers in states from Florida to Oregon. This, on top of the emotional stress many of us on both sides feel about whatever handbag the world will go to hell in should the other candidate be elected. The specter of terrorists running wild in the streets has been fueled in our imaginations, but the true terror has been sown by political operatives on both sides who seek to control the electorate as much as possible, and to the degree that is not possible, remove them from the picture altogether. The mere fact that I speak of "operatives on both sides" is bound to result in volleys of email from readers ranting about how much worse the other side is then their own. I can't even mock them for their obsession, because I am in the throes of it myself.
Meanwhile, the page at washingtonpost.com which runs the story on Pre-Election Anxiety Disorder displays a huge ad for CNN's America Votes 2004 coverage, featuring the grim visages of the two combatants. Links lead to "The Pundits Pick," the Post's electoral college map, and the results of their latest tracking poll. This is not what I need. I need pictures of puppies and bunnies and stories of Halloween and Indian Summer. I need a trip to Disney World. Except that it's in Florida, which is a swing state, and which has already had voting problems, and where the final vote is bound to be contested again this year, no matter who wins.
I can't wait until Wednesday. Like the majority of Americans (according to the polls), I don't expect the election to be resolved by then. I expect there to be court challenges in several states. I believe there's a good chance that victory will eventually be granted to the side which wins the most cases, rather than the one which wins the most votes. But at least by Wednesday I'll know which states are in contention, and I won't be constantly checking the news to see the latest poll results in Nevada or New Mexico or now, Hawaii, for god's sake. Recounts will allow me to focus just on Florida and Ohio and whatever other states come into question. I'll still be obsessed, and burning with a white hot anger, but at last the issues will be clear.
posted by John Bliss at
11:12 AM
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