Present Imperfect

Hangin' with My Chad | March 04, 2004

In an effort to break out of my NYT rut, I went to Slate.com (even though it's straight outta Redmond) and found this article on the rather odd timing of John Edwards's concession.

See, voters in California--the state with the largest take of delegates, not just on Super Tuesday, but forever and ever--found out that Edwards was throwing in the towel three full hours before the polls closed. Good news for people who voted after work. Bad news for chumps like me who got up early and voted for Edwards at 7:30 in the friggin' morning. Bad news for a bunch of lazy-ass Californians who decided not to vote at all because the primary matter was settled, and let's face it, that's way more exciting than, oh I don't know, the state Senate race and billions of dollars in bond measures. But even though I cast my vote in the a.m., I thought maybe I would have some idea of how the tide was turning before I voted, because I assumed someone would be posting exit polls and I'd have a three-hour leg up on all the east coast states. No dice. Why did Florida have to ruin the game for everyone?!

In the end, though, I guess I did myself a favor by casting a useless vote for someone I shouldn't have voted for anyway. Was it his boyish charm? Was it his smooth-as-a-mint-julep-in-July accent? Was it the Tenacious D. endorsement? Who cares?! He voted yes on the war. I shoulda voted for Kucinich. Or Al Sharpton, just to mix up the delegate pool a little.

Then again, at 7:30 PST, I thought Edwards still had a chance.