I've spent the last two weeks talking to everyone (students, professors, the kids outside Safeway, the guy selling Real Change weeklies outside Safeway, the people on the bus, the people tabling for Bush on the HUB lawn, the people who breathe...) about the election and in all this talking I found an unexpected trend.
The older the person I was talking to, the less they were following the media coverage of the election. Regardless of their political views, their involvement in politics, what they knew about the candidates, any other visible factor, older people are simply not following the news as closely as the younger generation.
Maybe this is because they're not online as much (unlikely), or don't have as much time to watch TV, or don't have The Daily Show to fill them in on statistics (if nothing else)... there are various explanations I suppose.
The sentiment I hear most frequently expressed though, is that many people have simply closed their eyes, have sent in their absentee ballot and are waiting for the result.
Washington's vote has been statistically decided so unless you're traveling out of state to knock on doors, many are removing themselves from the anxiety of the daily ups and downs and waiting for an uncontrollable result.
I have to admit, I too turned off the third presidential debate halfway through: too much rhetoric is bad for the brain.
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