Rx for Election Anxiety

Well, this is it. Today is the last day of nail-biting anxiety over the outcome of the election. After today, no more checking the polls to see how Obama's numbers look. No further need for shaking my head at right-wing wacko reports on the Democratic candidate's "associations". My fingers are crossed that we'll be seeing the last of Sarah Palin, despite our collective enjoyment of Tina Fey's mastery of Palin's Fargo honk.

It occurred to me the other day, while driving around San Jose doing errands, that everyone has their own way of dealing with pre-election anxiety. For me, blogging has become a great outlet. For others, the need to see their audience drives them outside, like the two men I saw standing in a heavy downpour waving No on 8 signs and shouting to passing motorists. Some people need to take action. Indystar.com reports that "more than 10,000 Obama volunteers in Ohio were knocking on doors and planning to hit their one millionth home Sunday after a five-day push". I had planned to go to Obama headquarters and volunteer with the get out the vote effort for a couple of hours, but Garrett waking up with a stomach ache this morning put a crimp in those plans.

Voters of all persuasion are particularly active on Twitter, and last night I could help stirring the pot of dissension a little bit. I had the following exchange with a couple of people, one who asserted that Barack Obama supports infanticide. My reply was that Obama likely eats babies for breakfast and kicks puppies too. A third person (sense of humor intact, apparently) replied "Dammit will you people get the lie RIGHT!!! Obama eats puppies and kicks babies, NOT the other way around." Ahh, I love social networking! I highly recommend using one of these outlets over the next 24 to 48 hours in order to connect with like-minded people and to salve your wounded sanity.