The Dying of the Light

The End Is Near (But Not Near Enough)

I just spent another hour of my life discussing the Presidential election, clicking on interactive maps in the hopes of figuring out what combinations of states might lead to a victory for the Democrats or Republicans. Really, though, I was doing it in the hopes of sustaining hope. After the last eight years, it's hard to believe that anything will go the way I wish, whether personally or politically. Even as I recognize that fifteen minutes musing on the reasons why Virginia might not fall to John McCain is fifteen minutes better deployed doing something constructive, I can't stop myself from feeling that my knowledge of the Washington D.C. area, my experience spent canvassing in Fairfax County, my sense that McCain's choice of running mate might hurt him in a state with Virginia's demographics all tell me that this time, finally, the outcome won't depress me to the point of paralysis. The thought that I have three more weeks of this sort of rumination ahead of me is almost unbearable.