The Sporadic Diary

October 31, 2010

Election 2010 is just a couple of days away and around the country the Sturm und Drang of political stridency has reached a fever pitch.  No matter that this is just a midterm election, meaning we are not voting for president this time, or in my state even for one of our U.S. senators, but mostly for less notable local jobs like auditor, treasurer, and selectman.  Nor does it seem to matter that most of these locals on the ballot are people whom we've never heard of and whom we couldn't recognize on the street if our lives depended on it.  No, political activism has become the new pastime of the aging boomer set (hey it beats canasta at the senior center) and there seems to be no shortage of angry, grayhaired geezers out there trumpeting their cause.  

In our quiet little suburban town the first clue that an election cycle is upon us appears when political signs start sprouting on people's lawns like a dandelion infestation.  Maybe it's me but I'd wager that such support has less chance of being persuasive than just appearing out-and-out scary.  Are these the same people you see on TV screaming red-faced at rallies and assorted protests?  Do they carry weapons?  

But I know we are truly in full political combat when the island in the center of our downtown traffic rotary, a circle of roughly 50 foot diameter, starts filling up with people during rush hours and Saturday mornings holding political signs of all sizes and shapes and waving in robotic slo-mo (think beauty queens on a parade float) at the vehicles rolling by.  Some drivers, a few really, honk their support, but most I suspect just try to get by without making eye contact, especially if one of the sign wavers is a neighbor or friend who is supporting the other side's candidate, someone whom you think should be kept under constant sedation.

Now don't get me wrong.  I like political activism.  But there is something about this scene in the rotary that just appears odd.  All these adults standing there on the island look like they've been captured in an overzealous game of ring-a-lievio and are hoping to get freed.  So, in the event that's the case tomorrow I plan to ride slowly around the island with my arm out the window and tag anyone who is looking to get off.