I think I speak for most of us when I explain how I feel regarding this election. Physically feeling...as in the surges of blood that rush to my head or the bowels that churn when I read or see something that suggests even remotely that Obama might not win the election for some reason or another. A poll, a 'gaffe', whatever.
This week has been full of that yucky feeling, with crappy polls and completely freaky John McCain exposure, not to mention cringe-worthy dialogue from the talking heads and traditional media (although, I suppose this is par for the course). I still feel my blood pressure rise just thinking about McCain's applause lines last Saturday. God help us all should he become president.
This brings me to the Chicken Little/Ostrich Wars that have popped up lately around here.
Even though it seems that I am part of the mom's basement D&D brigade with the sheer amount of my postings, I actually have a pretty full and busy life that includes two babies and a full time job, among other things. Lately I have found that while I am just doing my everyday thing (taking showers, giving job interviews, playing with the kids) I have a constantly running inner dialogue about the election that I find nearly impossible to shut off. It seems inconceivable that there was ever a time that I wasn't thinking about winning the election, and what would happen if Obama lost, etc. Am I cracking up? Possibly, but I don't think so. Because if I am cracking up, it seems like I will have plenty of company in my padded room.
When I do one of my endless blog checks throughout the day, it's hard not to notice the uptick of "He's losing ground because..." diaries and posts, followed by the "He's doing fine because..." diaries and posts. Eventually they devolve into basically "I'm right, you're wrong" like all the other rifts in this community do. Additionally, this Chicken Little/Ostrich debate is seeping into my fleshworld as well, which is unusual and does little to improve my nerves.
Speaking for myself, I get annoyed by the constant drumming of "Obama should have done X" to avoid the bad polls/gaffe/media cycle du jour, mainly because the complaint seems empty in this forum and designed for little more than to make the bile in my gut churn. I'm not speaking about well-reasoned posts and diaries, which are necessary and which I do believe the campaigns are reading, I'm talking about the ratta-tat of the comments, the Debbie Downer responses to the posts made by people trying to be positive or hopeful, no matter how futile it may seem. We can armchair quarterback until the cows come home, but the truth is that we can only guess why polls change.
Ultimately, I know that our feelings are borne from the same place and that Chicken Little and Ostriches alike worry for their blood pressure in times like this. This is the least fun kind of meta, because it is really the most serious. I would rather be thinking about how MSOC can't write 'fuck' in her diary title when I think of meta, instead of how the Chicken Little/Ostrich skirmish adds another layer to what is best described as a real, low grade anxiety about the future of our country.
Meta: Elevating the discourse nowhere since 2003.