Representative Government Lives On

After the nervousness of my first time voting in 2000... I was still nervous for 2004. But this time, after bumbling to the wrong table, correcting course, stumbling through the stuff I had to sign and praying I was not doing something that could send my vote to Venezuela, I am fairly confident that I managed to accurately punch the buttons I sought to punch. "But your machine was rigged!" my brother joked.

I voted for Bush, gave Democrats and liberals my state and municipal support, endorsed a referendum requiring city employees to live inside city limits, and aggressively pushed the switch to register disdain over a possible tax hike.

It is a gray world of clouds and rain in Memphis, which may be an omen for Memphians of today's worries being washed away, or a sign of many more gray days ahead. Only one person stood in front of my brother and me when we entered the polling place. No bombs went off. There were no signs of voter intimidation. People were in typically Southern high spirits, although a silent, dismal, multi-partisan gaggle of activists huddled on the sidewalk outside--drizzled upon and largely ignored.

This is terribly anticlimactic for such a closely watched election. Why not reward voters, by the way? A little fun would be a fair way to cut into voter apathy. How about door prizes? Balloons to take home to the kids? Clowns (not the ones seeking elected office)?

Of course, things are bound to heat up again as the polls start closing.

Update: Somebody likes me?! Thank you for the kind words, Citizen Jo! I shall listen to some Bernard Herrmann in celebration!